Bad Wolf
by Boy-With-Demon-Blood
Summary: Zoey and Rose are best friends. After their jobs are blown up by a man in a leather jacket who calls himself the Doctor, they are taken on an adventure through out space and time. Doctor/OC
1. Zoey and Rose

I groaned and slammed my hand on my alarm clock at 7 in the morning. If there was one sound that annoyed me the most it would be the beeping sound of my clock. I slowly stood up and made my way to the bathroom.

After showering I got dressed in black skinny jeans, an oversized sweater, and a pair of black converse. I put my dyed dark red hair into a pony tail before leaving for work. I ran around the store with Rose, my best friend and coworker, before eating lunch with her and her boyfriend, Micky. Once our lunch break was over, we went back to the store to work for a few more hours.

"This is a customer announcement. The store will be closing in five minutes. Thank you."

Rose and I were just about to leave when the man at the door stopped us by putting a bag of money in our faces. I groaned before grabbing it and Rose and I went to the lift to go down into the basement.

"Wilson?" I called out before walking toward his office, "Wilson, Rose and I have the lottery money."

"Wilson." Rose said, knocking on his door. "You there?"

I tried opening the door, "Look, we can't hang about, they're closing the shop."

When no one replied Rose spoke, "Wilson!"

"You go see if he's anywhere upstairs, alright?"

Rose nodded before going back upstairs. I heard a noise behind me and I started walking down the hallway, "Wilson, it's Zoey. Hello! Wilson?"

I stopped at the two red doors where I heard the sound come from. I walked into the dark room and turned on the lights. I didn't see anyone. Just mannequins and boxes.

"Wilson?" I walked farther into the long room, "Wilson!"

I tried opening another door, but turned when the door out of the room and back into the hallway closed. I ran over and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Is that someone mucking about?" I asked when I heard more noises. "Who is it?"

I heard another noise and turned around and watched as the mannequin moved towards me.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny." I said as more started walking. "Who's idea was this? Is it Derek's? Is it? Derek, is this you?"

Behind me, more started coming towards me and I back toward the wall.

"Knock it off!" I yelled, kicking the mannequin and it fell backwards.

They raised their hand, pretty sure I was going to die right there, then I felt someone grab my hand. I looked over, expecting to see Rose. But it was a man.

"Run."

We ran through a set of blue doors into another hallway, and I looked behind me to see the mannequins following us. We kept running until we got into the lift. Before the door closed behind us, a mannequin stuck his hand between the doors. The man grabbed the arm and pulled it off before the doors closed.

"You pulled its arm off." I said.

"Yep," He said, throwing it to me and I caught it, "Plastic."

"What were those things?" I asked, they obviously couldn't have been people.

"You wouldn't belive me if I told you." He replied.

"Try me." I replied, crossing my arms.

He turned to look at me and smirked, "They're Autons."

"And what are Autons?"

"Those things." He answered.

"Oh, thank you for elaborating." I said sarcastically.

We got out of the lift and he moved me aside, "Mind your eyes."

He pulled out a thingy and pointed it at the buttons for the lift and turned it on. It sparked before he walked down the hallway.

"Who are you then? And what are Autons?" I questioned, following him.

"They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures, and they're being controlled by a relay device on the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," The man said, pulling out a bomb, "So.. I'm gonna go upstairs and blow them up, and I might well die in the process. But don't worry about me, no. You go home, go on."

He led me outside, "Go have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, 'cause if you do, you'll get them killed."

He closed the door, "I don't like beans on toast."

Then the door opened again, "I'm the Doctor, by the way. What's your name?"

"Zoey." I answered.

"Nice to meet you, Zoey. Run for your life."

I started walking and I saw Rose, in teh allyway.

"There you are! I couldn't find you, I was worried! And who was that man?" Rose exclaimed. "Why do you have an arm?"

"Here's a better idea. Run." I grabbed her hand and we ran down the street, away from the shop.

"What's going on!? Why are we running?" Rose questioned.

When we were across the street, I stopped and watched the building.

"What happened?" Rose asked.

Then the roof exploded.

"That happened." I answered, pointing to the roof, "Let's go."

We started running again towards her house. When we got there, Jackie was freaking out. I set the plastic arm on the chair before sitting on the couch with Rose. Jackie had the telly on the BBC news.

"I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere." Jackie said on the phone, coming into the living room with tea for us, "They're lucky to be alive. Honestly it's aged them. Skin like an old bible. Walking in now, you'd think I was Rose's daughter."

"I've been phoning your mobile. You could've been dead!" I looked over and saw Micky. "It's on the news and everything. I can't belive that your shop went up."

"I'm fine. Don't make a fuss. Zoey was the one who told me to run. She was th one who could've been killed." Rose replied as Micky hugged her.

"What happened?" Micky asked.

"I don't know. Ask Zoey."

He looked over at me.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"What caused it?"

"Terrorists?" I answered. "I don't know. I was outside."

The Jackie came back in and looked at Rose, "It's Debbie on the end, she knows a man on The Mirror. 500 quid for an interview."

"Oh, that's brilliant. Give it here." Rose replied.

Once Rose got the phone she hung up and set it down on the coffee table.

"Well, you two got to find some way of making money. Your jobs' kaput, and I'm not bailing you out." Jackie stated.

The phone rang again and Jackie picked it up, "Beth. They're alive. I've told them, sue for compensation. They were within seconds of death."

I sighed and stood up, "Well, I'm beat. Rose, I'll be on the floor. And someone please get rid of the plastic arm."

* * *

The next morning I woke up when Rose's clock went of at 7:30.

"No point of getting up. You two have no job to go to." Jackie yelled.

I got up quickly to go back to my flat to change clothes before going back to Rose's. I was sitting next to Rose when I heard the cat flap.

"Mum, I told you to nail that cat flap down. We're gonna get strays." Rose said from the table as I walked toward the flap.

"I did it weeks back!" Jackie replied from her bedroom.

On the ground, I picked up the nails that kept the flap down. The cat flap moved again and I jumped. I opened up the door to see the Doctor.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me.

"It's my friend's house. I spent the night." I answered.

"Well, what did you do that for?" The Doctor replied.

"'Cause I felt like it. I would be at my job right now, but you blew it up."

"Must've got the wrong signal." He said, taking out his thingy, "You're not plastic, are you?"

He knocked my head, "No, bonehead. Bye, then."

I grabbed his arm and pulled him in, "You, inside, right now."

"Who is it?" Jackie asked.

I stood in Jackie's doorway, "It's about last night. He's part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes."

"They deserve compensation." Jackie says to the Doctor.

"Ha. We're talking millions." He replied.

"That's the man from the ally. The one you were talking to." Rose whispered.

"Yep. And he's gonna give us answers."

"Um, I'm in my dressing gown." I heard Jackie say to the Doctor.

"Yes, you are."

"There's a strange man in my bedroom." Jackie continued.

"Yes, there is."

"Well, anything could happen." Jackie finished.

"No." The Doctor said before walking toward us.

I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't laugh.

"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?" Rose asked.

"Might as well, thanks. Just milk." The Doctor answered.

"We should go to the police, the three of us." Rose said. "It said on the news they found a body."

I was sitting on the couch and watched as the Doctor picked up a magazine, "Oh, that won't last. He's gay and she's an alien." He then picked up a book and flipped through the pages, "Sad ending." The Doctor then looked in the mirror, "Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears."

"Anyway, if we are going to go to the police, we want to know what we're saying. I want you to explain everything."

The Doctor picked up a deck of cards and started playing with them before they flew all over the place, "Maybe not."

I heard something move behind the couch and he sat next to me, "What's that, then? Have you got a cat?"

"No." I answered before the plastic arm from last night flew from behind the couch and started choking the Doctor.

"We did have, but there's these strays, they come in off the estate." Rose said.

I was trying to pry the thing off of him, but it wasn't working.

"I told Mickey to chuck that out." Rose said, coming in with three mugs.

"Rose, he's not faking it." I told her.

"Yeah right. Anyway, I don't even know your name." Rose replied.

The Doctor and I got it away from his neck and it grabbed my face. We all tried to get it off me, breaking the coffee table in the process. Then he got out his thingy and got it away from my face and it stopped moving.

"It's all right. I stopped it." He tossed it to me, "There you go, you see? Armless."

"Do you think?" I asked before hitting him with it.

"Ow." He grabbed the arm before leaving.

"Hold on a minute, you can't just go swanning off." I told him as Rose and I followed him down the stairs.

"Yes, I can. Here I am, this is me, swanning off- see ya." He replied.

"That arm was moving. It tried to kill Zoey." Rose said.

"10 out of 10 for observation."

"You can't just walk away. That's not fair." Rose continued. "You've got to tell me what's going on."

"No, I don't." The Doctor replied.

"All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said if I did that, I'd get people killed." I said.

"What?" Rose questioned and I shushed her.

"So, your choice. Tell us, or I start talking."

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" He asked.

"Sort of." I responded.

"Doesn't work."

"Didn't think it would." I mumbled. "Who are you?"

"I told you, The Doctor." He answered.

"Yeah, but Doctor what?" Rose questioned.

"Just 'The Doctor'." The Doctor replied.

"The Doctor?"

"Hello!" He exclaimed.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" I asked.

"Sort of." He answered.

"Doesn't work." I replied and he smiled down at me.

"Are you the police?" Rose asked him.

"No! I was just... passing through." The Doctor answered. "I'm along way from home."

"But what have I done wrong? How come the Autons keep coming after me?" I questioned him.

"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you? You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all."

"It tried to kill me." I argued.

"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing." He said. "This morning I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cause you've met me."

"So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you?" I asked.

"Sort of, yeah." He replied.

"You're full of it." I smiled.

"Sort of, yeah."

"But the plastic stuff, who else knows about it?" Rose questioned.

"No one."

"What, you're on your own?" I asked.

"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly. When all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on." He said.

"How did you kill the living plastic?" Rose asked.

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal - dead." The Doctor answered.

"So that's radio control?"

"Thought control." He corrected.

"So who's controlling it, then?" I asked.

"Long story." The Doctor answered.

"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?" I questioned.

The three of us laughed, "No. It's not a price war. They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you two belive me?"

"Yes." I answered while Rose answered, "No."

"But you're still listening." The Doctor told Rose.

"But, really, though, Doctor. Tell me. Who are you?" I asked when Rose and I stopped and he kept walking.

He stopped and faced us, "Do you know, like we were saying, about the Earth revolving?" He walked toward us, "It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning, and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it." He grabbed my hand, "The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling 'round the sun at 67,000 miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, the three of us. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go..." He then dropped my hand, "That's who I am. Now, forget me, Zoey and Rose." He grabbed the arm, "Go home."

"Come on." Rose said after a moment of silence, grabbing my arm and we started to walk away.

I kept watching as the Doctor walked toward a blue police box. We walked farther, but I stopped when I heard this weird sound.

"Zoey!"

I ran back to where he walked away, and saw that the police box was gone. I sighed.

"Hey, I'm going to Mickey's. Wanna come?" Rose asked.

I shook my head,

"Okay, I'll come by later." Rose said, patting my arm before walking in the direction of Micky's apartment.

* * *

A week later, Rose said she was going to go talk to this guy about the Doctor before coming to get me and we were going to go out to eat. I decided to take a shower before going. Once I was done, I dressed in jeans and a blue jumper. I went out to Mickey's yellow car and got in the back.

"Hey, where we going?" I asked.

"P-pizza." Mickey answered.

"Um, okay."

That was so not Micky. His skin was shiny and he had a creepy smile on his face. He looked like a life-size black Ken doll.

"Do you think I should try the hospital?" Rose asked after we sat down.

I made sure I was sitting away from Mickey.

"Suki said they had jobs going in the canteen." Rose continued. "Is that it, then? Dishing out chips. I could do A-levels. I don't know. It's all Jimmy Stone's faut. I only left school because of him- look were he ended up. What do you think?"

"I hated him. He was a stuck up." I replied.

"Yeah, but he was cute."

"So, where did you meet this Doctor?" Mickey asked.

"I'm sorry. Was I talking about me for a second?" Rose replied.

"'Cause I reckon it all started back at the shop. Am I right? Was he something to do with that?" Mickey questioned.

"No." I answered.

"Come on." Mickey insisted.

"Sort of." Rose said.

"What was he doing there?" Mickey asked.

"I'm not going on about him, Mickey. Really, I'm not. 'Cause I know it sounds a bit daft, but... I don't think he's safe." Rose answered. "He's dangerous."

"But you can trust me, sweetheart. Babe, babe, sugar, babe, sugar. You can tell me anything. Tell me about the Doctor and what he's planning, and I can help you, Rose... 'cause that's all I really want to do, sweetheart. Babe, babe, sugar, sweetheart."

That really was not Mickey.

"What are you doing that for?" Rose asked him.

"Your champagne." I looked up and saw the Doctor holding out a bottle of champagne for us.

He winked at me before looking back at the fake Mickey.

"We didn't order any champagne." Mickey said, "Where's the Doctor?"

"Madam, your champagne." The Doctor said.

"It's not ours." She told him, "Mickey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much you know, so where is he?"

I stood up and tried to back away before Mickey gripped my wrist.

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" The Doctor asked.

"Look, we didn't order it." Mickey said, finally looking up at the Doctor. "Ah, gotcha."

The Doctor started shaking the bottle, "Don't mind me, just toasting the happy couple. On the house."

The cork flew off the bottle and into Mickey's forehead, he then spit the cork out of his mouth.

"Anyway." Mickey let me go and his hand became flat and he smashed the table.

Everyone was still in their seats, watching the Doctor and Mickey, until the Doctor took off Mickey's head. Then when people started freaking out, I pushed the fire alarm, "Everybody out! Out, now!"

Rose, the Doctor, and I ran in the opposite direction of the customers, following the Doctor through the restaurant, headless Mickey following close behind us. We went out the back door, and The Doctor locked it with his blue thingy. Rose and I ran to the gate and pulled on the chains.

"Open the gate! Use that tube thing, come on." Rose said.

I backed away from the gate when I noticed the police box.

"Sonic screwdriver." The Doctor corrected her.

"Use it!"

"Nah, tell you what, let's go in here." The Doctor said, stepping inside the box.

Slowly, I followed him.

"It's smaller on the outside." I commented and he smiled.

It wasn't long before Rose ran inside. She looked around before going back out again. While the Doctor used his screwdriver on Mickey's head, I walked around the machine in the middle of the room to sit down on the chair.

"It's gonna follow us," She said, running back in.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me, they've tried. Now shut up a minute." The Doctor replied. "You see, the arm was too simple, but a head's perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source." Once he was done hooking wires to the head, he looked at Rose before me, "Where do you want to start?"

"Um, the inside's bigger on the outside?" Rose replied and the Doctor turned to her.

"Yes."

"It's alien." Rose said.

"Yeah."

"Are you alien?" She asked.

"Yes. Is that alright?"

"Fine wiht me." I answered.

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's time and relative dimension in space." The Doctor said.

Rose then let out a sob and covered her mouth.

"Oh, Rose." I said, walking over to her and putting my arm around her shoulder.

"That's okay. Culture shock." The Doctor said. "Happens to the best of us."

"That's not is." I replied.

"Then why is she crying?" He whispered.

"Mickey." I whispered back.

"Did they kill him?" Rose questioned. "Did they kill Mickey? Is he dead?"

"Oh. I didn't think of that." The Doctor replied.

I rolled my eyes, "Obviously."

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled his head off- they copied him, and you didn't even think? And now you're just gonna let him melt?" Rose questioned.

I watched as the head behind the Doctor started melting.

"Melt? Oh, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor exclaimed before running around the machine, pulling levers and pushing buttons.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Following the signal. It's fading. Wait a minute. I've got it. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Oh, no. Almost there, almost there. Here we go!"

Once the TARDIS stopped moving, the Doctor ran past us and ran outside.

"You can't go out there! It's not safe!" Rose yelled.

I walked out and Rose was behind me, we were at the bay.

"I lost the signal. I got so close." The Doctor said.

"We moved." Rose commented. "Does it fly?"

"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand." The Doctor replied.

"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose." Rose said.

"Melted with the head. Are you gonna witter on all night?" The Doctor asked.

"I'll have to tell his mother."

The Doctor looked at her, confused.

"Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you just went and forgot him, again. You were right. You are alien." Rose elaborated.

"Look, if I did forget a kid called Mickey..." The Doctor started.

"Yeah, he's not a kid." Rose interrupted.

"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape blundering about on top of this planet, all right?" He finished.

"'All right'?"

"Yes, it is!"

"If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?" I asked.

"Lots of planets have a north." The Doctor replied.

"What's a... police public call box?" I questioned.

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s. It's a disguise." He smiled, patting the box.

I chuckled, "Okay. And what does the living plastic got against us?"

"Nothing. It loves you. You got such a good planet. Lot's of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air- perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all it protein planets rotted so... Earth, dinner." The Doctor answered, using wild hand motions.

"Any way of stopping it?" I questioned.

"Anti-plastic." He responded, taking out a tube of blue liquid. "But first, I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?" Rose asked.

"The transmitter." The Doctor answered. "The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?" She asked.

"Like a transmitter." He answered.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Big, round and massive, somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London. A huge metal circular structure. Like a dish, like a wheel. Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible."

"Or completely obvious." I replied, looking at the Eye of London.

"Hmm?"

I walked up to him, turning him around to look at the eye.

"Oh. Fantastic." He smiled.

He took off running and we were behind him. When we were running next to him, he grabbed out hands. We ran across the bridge to the eye.

"Think of it. Plastic, all over the world. Every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop-window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables." The Doctor said.

"The breast implants." Rose and I said together.

"Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

I watched as Rose ran over to the edge of the platform, "What about down here?!"

The Doctor and I ran over to see what she was looking at, "Looks good to me."

We ran down the steps and the Doctor turned the wheel to open the hatch. He climbed down the ladder first before Rose and I followed. It was dark, but was barely lit by a red light. The Doctor led us into a hot room, and he leaned on the rail, looking at the liquid below us.

"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it- inside the vat." He told us. "A living plastic creature."

"Well, then, tip in your anti-plastic, and let's go." Rose replied.

"I'm not here to kill it." The Doctor responded, "I've got to give it a chance."

He walked down another pair of steps and Rose and I were behind him.

"I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract, according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." The Doctor said.

The Consciousness mead rumbling noises in response, "Thank you. If I might have permission to approach."

"Oh, my god." I heard Rose say as she ran past the Doctor.

I looked over to where she was heading and saw Mickey. The Doctor and I soon followed.

"Mickey, it's me. It's okay. It's all right." Rose said, running to him.

"That thing down there. The liquid, Rose. It can talk." Mickey said.

"You're stinking." Rose commented before looking at the Doctor, "Doctor, they kept him alive."

"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." He replied.

"You knew that, and you never said?" Rose questioned.

"Can we keep the domestics outside? Thanks." The Doctor replied before going down more stairs.

Rose and I stood up and watch the Doctor.

"Am I addressing the Consciousness?" He asked. The thing moved and rumbled, "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of Warp Shunt technology. So, I may suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off." Then a face appeared in the liquid and it sounded angry as it growled, "Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional right." It moved around and was screeching, "I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you, on their behalf, please, just go."

"Doctor! Look out!" I yelled when I saw the mannequins come up behind him.

One of them stepped back, holding the anti-plastic, "That was just insurance. I wasn't gonna use it." It growled and screeched more, "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." It screeched and I heard something moving behind me, "What do you mean?"

Behind me was the TARDIS.

"Oh, oh, no. Honestly, no. Yes, that's my ship." The face looked even angrier, "That's not true. I should know. I was there! I fought in that war. It wasn't my fault." The Doctor looked sad and his voice was full of emotions, it brought tears to my eyes. "I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them."

"What's it doing?" I asked when the face was moving.

"It's the TARDIS. The Nestene's identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion." He looked back at me, "You three need to get out. Just leg it- now!"

I saw Rose take out her phone, "Mum?"

I turned my focus to the Doctor, who was still struggling to get out of the grip of the mannequins. Then a bolt of electricity came from the Nestene and hit the ceiling, "It's the activation signal. It's transmitting."

"The end of the world."

Rose, Mickey, and I walked over to the TARDIS. Mickey was cowering in fear against the TARDIS door and Rose. I watched as the Doctor struggled, Rose next to me.

"Just leave him!" Mickey yelled.

I turned to Rose, "We have to help him."

"But how?" Rose asked me.

I looked around and saw an axe. I ran over and grabbed it. I chopped at the rope before grabbing the chain, "Rose! Remember Jericho Street Junior School? The gymnastics team?" She ran over and grabbed the chain, "I got bronze."

She jumped off the platform, clinging onto the chain and knocked the mannequin that was holding onto the Doctor. He flipped it over his shoulder and into the Nestene. Hitting the other one, it dropped the anti-plastic onto the creature as it fell."

I jumped down, next to the Doctor and grabbed Rose,

"Now we're in trouble." He told us with a smiled.

As the building started exploding, we ran up the metal steps and to Mickey and the TARDIS. Using the key to open up the door, the Doctor shove Mickey inside before we followed them. The Doctor started pressing buttons and pulling levers and we were out of there. Once we landed, Mickey staggered out the door, clearly freaked out.

"Fat lot of good you were." Rose said, running over to Mickey.

I sat outside the TARDIS, leaning against the door.

"Nestene Consciousness?" The Doctor snapped his fingers from beside me, "Easy."

"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it weren't for us." Rose replied, motioning to me and her.

"Yes, I would." He looked down at me before looking back at Rose, "Thank you. Right, then. I'll be off... unless, uh, I don't know... you could come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe, free of charge."

"Don't. He's an alien, he's a thing." Mickey argued.

"He's not invited. What do you think? You could stay here, fill you life with work and food and sleep, or you could go, uh... anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked.

He nodded, "Yeah."

Mickey wrapped his arms around Rose's waist, "Yeah, I can't. I've got to go find my mum, and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so..."

"Okay." The Doctor then turned to me, "What about you?"

I bit my lip and looked at Rose.

"Zoey, you can go. You don't need me." She said.

I gave her a small smile before looking back at the Doctor, "Okay."

He helped me stand up and we turned to Rose, "See you around."

I went and sat on the chair by the console and the Doctor started working his magic. Once I was sure we were off the ground the Doctor hit his head, "I forgot to tell her something."

I felt the TARDIS land before standing up and the Doctor opened the door, "By the way, did I mention? It also travels in time."

A few moments later, Rose ran in with a big smile on her face. I ran up and hugged her.

"This is going to be so much fun." She told me.

"Oh, it's gonna be fantastic." The Doctor smiled from the console.

Rose and I sat in the chair and started talking. I winced slightly when my arm started burning.

"You okay?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. I'm fantastic." I smiled, rubbing the burning sensation.


	2. End of the World

"Okay, Zoey. You first. Where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time?" The Doctor asked me.

"Forwards." I answered.

"How far?"

"100 years."

He did a few twisting and pressing before Rose and I held onto the rails.

He smiled at me, "There you go, step outside those doors. It's the 22nd century."

"You're kidding." I commented.

"That's a bit boring, though. Do you want to go further?" The Doctor questioned.

"Fine by me."

After more pressing and spinning he spoke, "10,000 years into the future. Step outside, it's the year 12,005, the New Roman Empire."

"You think you're so impressive." I said.

"I am so impressive." He replied.

"You wish." I joked.

"Right, then. You asked for it." He smiled. "I know exactly where to go." He spun the dial more, "Hold on."

I smiled at Rose when the TARDIS stopped.

"Where are we?" I asked the Doctor.

He held out his hand for us to go outside.

"What's out there?" Rose questioned.

He repeated the gesture. I grabbed Rose's hand and we walked out of the TARDIS. We were in an empty room. The Doctor followed us out and used his screwdriver on the thing near the door. Then the shutters in front of us started lifting and I pulled Rose closer to it. It was the Earth.

"You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're gonna get killed by eggs, or beef or global warming or asteroids." The Doctor said, walking up next to me and crossing his arms, "But you never take time to imagine the impossible, that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/Apple/26. Five billion years in your future. And this is the day-" He looked down at his watch, "Hold on." A bright wave came out of the sun, "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

* * *

_"Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation, and religion. Earth death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester suite."_

"So, when it says 'guests' does that mean people?" Rose asked as we walked down a hallway.

"Depends on what you mean by 'people'." The Doctor responded.

"I mean people, what do you mean?" Rose questioned.

"Aliens." He answered.

"What are they doing aboard this spaceship? What's it all for?" I asked as he took out his sonic screwdriver.

"It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great ans the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." The Doctor answered.

"What for?"

"Fun." He replied before we walked into a big room, "Mind you, when I say 'the great and the good' what I mean is the rich."

"But hold on, they did this once on Newsround Extra, the sun expanding, that takes hundreds of years." Rose said.

"Millions. But the planet's now the property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" The Doctor pointed out the window at a satellite, "Gravity satellites holding back the sun."

"The planet looks the same as ever." I commented, "I thought the continents shifted and things."

"They did, and the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over." The Doctor replied.

"How long has it got?" I asked.

"About half an hour. Then the planet gets roasted."

"Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?" Rose questioned.

"I'm not saving it. Time's up." He told her.

"But what about the people?" She asked.

"It's empty. They've all gone, all left." He answered.

"Just Zoey and I, then."

"Who the hell are you?"

We turned around and there was a blue man walking up to us.

"Oh, that's nice. Thanks." The Doctor replied.

"But how did you get in?" The Blue man asked. "This is a maximum hospitality zone. That guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now."

"No, that's me. I'm a guest. Look, got an invitation." The Doctor showed him a blank piece of paper, "Look, there. You see? It's fine. The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor. This is Zoey and Rose. They're my plus two. Is that all right?"

"Well, obviously. Apologies, et cetera. If you're on board, we'd better start. Enjoy." The man replied.

The Doctor turned to us and showed up the blank paper, "The paper is slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time."

"He's blue." I commented.

"Yeah." He smiled as he put away the paper.

"Okay."

After introducing us, the man introduced the guests. First there we tree people, a small blue thing with a big head, creepy people in black robes, lizards looking people, giant bird head people, aliens with four eyes, and a big head in a jar. The man said his name was the Face of Boe.

"The gift of peace." Jabe said, handing the Doctor a small plant. "I bring you a cutting of my grandfather."

"Thank you." The Doctor replied before handing Rose the plant. He patted his jacket, "Yes, gifts... um. I give you in return, air from my lungs." He said before gently blowing air onto Jabe.

"How intimate." She replied.

"There's more where that came from." He flirted.

"I bet there is."

Then the small blue person came up to us, "The Moxx of Balhoon."

"My felicitations upon this historical happenstance. I bring you the gift of bodily salvias." He said before spitting on Rose's face.

"Thank you very much." The Doctor smiled.

"Great aim." I commented when he rolled away.

"Ah! The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." The Doctor said before blowing air on the aliens in the black robes.

"A gift of peace in all good faith." Teh voice was creepy and one of the robed people held out a silver sphere.

The Doctor took it and gave it to Rose.

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen and trees and multiforms, consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth the last human. The lady Cassandra O' 17."

That woman that came out was no way human in any way. She was a miniature trampoline.

I jumped when the Doctor put an arm around my shoulders.

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know. It's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away, and look at the difference. Look how thin I am. Thin and dainty. I don't look a day over 2000. Moisturize me, moisturize me." The trampoline said.

One of the men next to her sprayed some kind of liquid on her.

"Truly, I am the last human. My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert." I watched as Rose stepped away from us and got a closer look at Cassandra, "They were born on the Earth, and they were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honor them and say goodbye." Her voice broke and the other man dabbed away her tears, "Oh, no tears. No tears. I'm sorry. But, behold. I bring gifts. Form Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg." A small blue man came out holding out the egg of the bird, "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils. Or was that my third husband?" She chuckled, "Oh no. Oh, don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines. And here, another rarity." Two small blue people pulled out a jukebox, "According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers. Play on."

They pressed a button and Tainted Love by Soft Cell's came on. I laughed lightly when the Doctor started dancing.

"Refreshments will now be served. Earth death in 30 minutes."

The Doctor grabbed my hand and spun me under his arm. He then grabbed my other hand and we dance. I looked over and saw Rose leave the room.

"Come on, let's go find her." The Doctor said.

I nodded and ran out after her. I found her in the rooms we arrived in, talking to the plant Jabe gave us.

"My name's Rose. That's sort of a plant. We might be related."

"I think so, too. You have the same eyes." I joked as I sat down on the steps. "How is she even close to human?" I asked. "Was her mother half roadkill?"

We laughed a little before the Doctor called for us, "Rose, Zoey, are you in there?" He walked in and sat on the seat next to me, "Aye- aye. What do you think, then?" He asked us.

"Great." We both said at the same time, "Once you get past the slightly psychic paper." I added.

"They're just so... alien. The aliens are just so alien. You look at 'em, and they're alien." Rose said.

"Really? Didn't notice."

"Good thing I didn't take you to the deep south." The Doctor replied.

"What's there?" I asked.

"Aliens." He answered.

"Where are you from?" Rose asked.

"All over the place." The Doctor answered.

"They all speak English." Rose said.

He turned to us and laid down, propping up on his elbow, "No, you just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field gets inside your head. Translates."

"It's inside our brains?" Rose questioned.

"Well, in a good way." The Doctor responded.

"Your machine gets inside our heads. It gets inside, and it changes our minds and you didn't even ask?" She asked.

"I didn't think about it like that." The Doctor replied.

"No, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the deep south." Rose said.

"Rose, I don't mind her translating languages." I replied.

"Her?" She asked.

"All vehicles are shes, Rose." I said.

Rose looked at me before turning to the Doctor, "Who are you, then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

"I'm just the Doctor." He answered after sitting up.

"From what planet?" She asked.

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is." He replied.

"Where are you from?"

"What does it matter?"

"Tell me who you are!" She exclaimed.

"This is who I am, right here, right now, alright. All that counts is here and now, and this is me!" He yelled.

"Yeah, and I'm here, too, 'cause you brought me here, so just tell me!" Rose yelled back.

"Stop fighting!" I yelled before getting up and leaving the room.

After I left the room and went into the main room with all of the guests, the floor started shaking for a moment.

"Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you." I heard from the speaker.

I sat down next to the Face of Boe and the Moxx of Balhoon, talking to them for a bit before leaving to go look for Rose.

"Rosie... Rosalyn." I said, walking down the hallway.

"Oh, hello." I said to the... Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

They didn't say anything. The one in front of me raised it's metal hand and hit me on the side of the head and everything went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes and saw Rose sitting against the door of a room that looked like one we were in earlier. Except that whole wall looked like it was burned.

"Oh, thank goodness you're finally awake. We were nearly killed." Rose said, getting up and helping me to my feet.

"What happened?" I asked, holding my throbbing head in my hands.

"The sun filter tried killing us. The Doctor saved us, but the door is jammed." Rose answered. "Are you okay?"

"My head is throbbing. The Meme hit me pretty hard." I replied, "How long do we have to stay in here?"

"Until the Doctor comes back."

"_Earth Death in three minutes."_

I sighed and sat down against the door and Rose sat next to me. Then the whole place started shaking.

_"Safety systems failing. Heat levels rising. Earth death in two minutes. Heat levels critical."_

"Oh, no." Rose said.

_"Heat levels hazardous."_

The window looking over the Earth and Sun started cracking.

_"Shields malfunction."_

I let out yelp and grabbed Rose's hand as a burst of light came trough the window and burned into the wall. We sat as close as we could to each other as more light came through and hit the wall around us.

_"Planet explodes in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1"_

I kept my eyes open, watching as Earth burned before exploding into rocks.

_"Exoglass repaired."_

Earth was gone. I look over and saw that Rose's eyes were closed.

"You missed Earth's death." I whispered to her.

"What about you?" She asked, looking over to me.

"I watched. Someone had to watch it go."

She stood up and held out her hand, "Come on."

We walked into the main room and saw smoke coming off some bodies. One I recognized as the Moxx of Balhoon. I also noticed that the bitchy trampoline wasn't in the room. It wasn't long before I saw the Doctor walk past us and to Lute and Coffa. There was no Jabe with them or the Doctor. She must have... passed. He talked to the trees and they turned away, crying from grief.

"She didn't make it." I whispered before he walked over, "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through 5,000 degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby." He said, walking over to the ostrich egg and smashed it open and picking up the teleportation thingy. "Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twisted the thing and I heard the trampoline.

"Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces." She said before appearing, "Oh."

"The last human."

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the- the Human club." She stated.

"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them." The Doctor said.

"Depends on your definition of 'people', and that's enough of a technically to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor. And watch me smile and cry and flutter." She replied.

"And creak?" He asked.

"And what?" Cassandra questioned.

"Creak. You're creaking." The Doctor answered,

She was drying up and her eyes turned red.

"What? Ah. I-I'm frying out. Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me. Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys. It's too hot." She exclaimed.

"You raised the temperature." The Doctor said.

"Have pity." Cassandra begged, "Moisturize me. Oh, oh, Doctor."

Rose and I stood beside the Doctor.

"Help her." Rose said.

"Everything has its time, and everything dies." The Doctor replied.

"I'm... too... young."

She shrunk before she exploded, her flesh flying everywhere. I watched as the Doctor left the room. I said goodbye to the Face of Boe before he went on his shuttle. He was quiet nice... and charming.

_"Shuttles four and six departing. This unit now closing down for maintenance."_

Rose and I were still in the main room, it was now empty. We watched what was left of Earth, floating around. I heard footsteps and the Doctor stood between us.

"The end of the Earth. It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves, only Zoey saw it go." Rose said. "All those years, all that history, and only one person was looking. It's just..."

"Come with me." The Doctor said, holding out his hands for us to take.

He led us back to the TARDIS. Rose and I sat in the seat by the console as the Doctor flew her somewhere. Once she landed, he had us go outside. We were on Earth, most likely 2005. I don't now what city, but people were walking around us.

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky." The three of us looked up at the cloudy sky, "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before its time."

"What happened?" I asked.

"There was a war, and we lost."

"A war with who?" Rose questioned.

When he didn't answer, I asked a different question, "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own 'cause there's no one else." He answered.

"There's me." I said.

"And me." Rose said after me.

"You two have seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" He replied.

"No." I answered immediately.

"What about you, Rose?"

"I don't know." She answered, "I want..." She sniffed the air before looking around, "Can you smell chips?"

He laughed, "Yeah. Yeah."

"I want chips." Rose said.

"Me too." I smiled.

"Me three." The Doctor replied.

"Right, then. Before you get us back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay." Rose said to the Doctor.

"No money." He said.

"What sort of date are you?" I asked him, "Come on then, Dumbo, Rosie, chips are on me." I said, linking my arms through theirs and walking off towards where the chips are, "We only got five billion years till the shops close.

* * *

After we got chips we went back to the TARDIS. The Doctor told us where our rooms should be. Rose's room was pink... very pink. The walls were a soft pink and the covers on her canopy bed were hot pink. The curtains on the bed were white. She had a desk and a big closet.

"It's very pink." I commented.

"I love it. Now, lets go see your room." Rose replied, grabbing my arm and opening the door next door.

"Oh, wow." I gasped.

The walls and ceiling looks like space. Like the galaxy. Thousands of stars. I had a canopy bed just like Rose's, but the comforter was TARDIS blue and the curtains are black. I had a desk, too. Also a closet, just as big as Rose's. Both of our rooms also had a bathroom connected.

"Yours is beautiful." Rose said. "It's not pink, but it's still pretty."

I laughed before sitting on the bed, bouncing a bit. Rose yawned, "Night, Zoey."

"Night, Rosalyn."

She left the room and I sighed, I still had a headache. Stupid meme.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now." I heard.

The Doctor was leaning against the doorway.

"Headache. Those meme's aren't very nice." I replied.

"Come on." The Doctor said, grabbing my hand and pulling out of my room.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You were still unconscious when the sun filter was descending. Must've been knocked you good. You might have a concussion." He answered.

The Doctor dragged me into a room that looked like a doctor's office. He had me sit on one of those bed things while he grabbed stuff.

"The Doctor is gonna play doctor." I laughed.

He smiled, "What you don't think I have any medical training? I'm called the Doctor for a reason."

He shined a light in my eye, "Besides dying almost twice, how did you like our trip?"

"I thought it was fun. I talked to the Face of Boe. Actually more like I talked. He uses telepathy. He was really nice." I answered. We were silent as he did stuff, "What makes Time Lords different from humans?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, you look human. What's the difference between a Time Lord and a human?" I repeated.

"First of all, Time Lords came first, so humans look like Time Lords. And we live for a long time, we're more clever, ans Time Lords have two hearts." He answered.

"Really? Two hearts?" I questioned.

The Doctor nodded before holding up a stethoscope, "Want to hear?"

I nodded and grabbed the tool. He told me where to put the chest piece to hear the heartbeats.

_One, two, three, four._

"Amazing." I said as I took off the stethoscope.

He smiled, putting it away, "Good news. No concussion." He held out two pills, "For the pain."

I popped them into my mouth and swallowed, "Thanks."

"Alright, off to bed. Big day tomorrow." The Doctor said, helping me off the bed.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." He answered.

I pouted, "Night Doctor." I said before leaving the hospital room and back to my bed.


	3. The Unquiet Dead

"So where are we going?" Rose asked the next day.

"Somewhere."

"When are we going?" She asked.

"Right... now." He replied, pulling down a lever. "You've seen the future, now let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?"

"What happened in 1860?" I asked.

"I don't know. Let's find out. Hold on. Here we go." He answered, pulling down another lever.

The landing wasn't so smooth.

"Blimey!" Rose exclaimed as we got off the floor.

"You're telling me. Are you two alright?" The Doctor replied.

"Yeah, I think so. Nothing's broken." Rose answered.

"I'm fine."

"Did we make it? Where are we?" Rose questioned.

"I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24, 1860." The Doctor answered.

"That's so weird. It's Christmas." I said.

"All yours." The Doctor stated, swinging his arm out.

"But, it's like, think about it, though. Christmas 1860. Happens once. Just once, and it's gone. It's finished. It'll never happen again. Except for you, You can go back and see days that are dead and gone, a hundred thousand sunsets ago. No wonder you never stay still." I continued.

"Not a bad life."

"Better with three." I smiled, taking Rose's hand, "Come on." I said, and we ran towards the door.

"Oi, oi, oi, where do you think you two are going?" The Doctor asked.

"1860." Rose and I answered at the same time.

"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot. There's a wardrobe through there," He said, pointing to the corridor, "First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up."

I groaned and ran pas the console with Rose. We eventually found the wardrobe and went through the dresses in there. We found one for me first. It was a purple and black stripe taffeta with black lace and ruffle. It was long enough so you didn't see my feet, so I kept my black Converse on. Then the hair,

"Oh my god. What about my hair. It's obviously not natural." I said, turning to Rose.

"If anyone asks, you have this weird disease." Rose replied.

"I could do that." I replied.

I left my hair down and straight. It didn't take long to find a dress for Rose. It was a black bodice with a maroon-ish color. I helped her with the laces and she found black shoes to go with the dress and a cape. Once we did her hair we went back to the room. We found the Doctor under the console, messing with it with his sonic screwdriver.

"Blimey!" He said, looking up at us.

"Don't laugh." Rose said.

"You two look beautiful. Considering," He replied.

"Considering what?" I asked.

"That you're humans." The Doctor answered.

"I think that was a compliment." Rose whispered to me.

"I hope so." I whispered back before turning to the Doctor, "Aren't you gonna change?"

"I've changed my jumper. Come on." The Doctor was about to jump up when Rose stopped him.

"You stay there. I want to do it this time." Rose said, running toward the doors.

I waited for the Doctor to get up before we followed Rose.

"Ready for this?" He asked as he stood between Rose and I and we put our arms through his, "Here we go. History."

We walked doesn't the street and there were a lot of people outside. The Doctor found a man selling newspapers and he ran over to buy one.

"I got the flight a bit wrong." He told us after looking at the paper.

"I don't care." Rose replied.

"It's not 1860. It's 1869."

"I don't care."

"And it's not Naples.

"I don't care."

"It's Cardiff."

"It's still Christmas, right?" I asked him.

"Yep. December 24, 1869." He answered.

We walked around the street corner and there were people screaming and running away from the theater.

"Oh, that's more like it." The Doctor smiled before running toward the building, Rose and I following. "Fantastic." He said when we saw a blue gas flying around inside the theater. "Did you see where it came from?" He asked a man that was on the stage.

"Ah, the wag reveals himself, does he? I trust you're satisfied, sir!" The man yelled.

"Oi! Leave her alone!" Rose yelled at a man and a woman, dragging an old woman between them, "Doctor, I'll get 'em."

"Be careful." I told her.

I stood next to the stage as the Doctor jumped up on it and to the man, "Did it say anything? Could it speak? I'm the Doctor, by the way."

"Doctor? You look more like a navy." The man replied.

"What's wrong with this jumper?" The Doctor questioned.

I smiled before watching the blue mist and it flew into a gas light.

"Gas. It's made of gas." The Doctor said.

The Doctor and I left to go search from Rose. When we got outside, I saw the woman that Rose was chasing close a carriage.

"Rose!" I yelled.

The Doctor and I ran toward it, but it already took off, "You are not escaping me, sir. What do you know about that hobgoblin, hmm? Projection on glass, I suppose. Who put you up to it?"

"Yeah, mate. Not now, thanks." Teh Doctor said before grabbing my hand and we went to the nearest carriage, "Oi, you! Follow that hearse!"

"You can't do that, sir!"

"Why not?" The Doctor asked, helping me in before sitting next to me.

"I'll give you a very good reason why not, because this is my coach!" The man from earlier said.

"Well, get in, then." The Doctor said, puling him in and he sat across from the Doctor. "Move! Come on, you're losing them."

"Everything in order, Mr. Dickens?" The man asked.

"No, it is not!" Mr. Dickens answered.

"What did he say?" The Doctor asked.

"Let me say this first. I'm not without a sense of humor-" He started.

"Dickens?"

"Yes."

"Charles Dickens?" I questioned.

"Yes."

"The Charles Dickens?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Should I remove them, sir?"

"Charles Dickens. You're brilliant, you are. Completely, 100 percent brilliant. I've read 'em all. Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and what's the other one, the one with the ghosts?" The Doctor asked.

"A Christmas Carol?" Charles asked.

"No, no, no. The one with the trains."

"The Signal man." I said.

"That's it. Terrifying. The best short story ever written. You're a genius." The Doctor replied.

"You want me to get rid of them, sir?" The man asked again.

"Uh, no, I think they can stay." Charles answered.

"Honestly, Charles, can I call you Charles? I'm such a big fan." The Doctor said.

"You're a what? A big what?" Charles questioned.

"Fan. Number one fan, that's me."

"How exactly are you a fan?" Charles asked. "In what way do you resemble a means of keeping oneself cool?"

"No, it means 'fanatic', 'devoted to'. Mind you, I've got to say, that American bit in 'Martian Chuzzlewit, what's that about? Was that just padding, or what? I mean, that's rubbish, that bit." The Doctor replied.

"I thought you said you were my fan." Charles said.

"Well, if you can't take criticism. Go on, do the death of Little Nell, it cracks me up. No, sorry, forget about that." The Doctor turned to the driver, "Come on, faster!"

"Who exactly is in that hearse?" Charles asked.

"Our friend. She's only 19. It's my fault. She's in my care, and now she's in danger." The Doctor answered.

"Why are we wasting my time talking about dry old books? This is much more important. Driver, be swift! The chase is on!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Attaboy, Charlie." The Doctor said.

"Nobody calls me Charlie." Charles replied.

"The ladies do." The Doctor responded.

"How do you know that?" Charles asked.

"I told you, I'm your number one-"

"Number one fan, I know." Charles interrupted.

Moments later we arrived at the building the hearse was parked in front of. After getting out of the carriage, we walked to the front door and knocked.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're closed." A woman told us.

"Nonsense! Since when did an undertaker keep office hours? The dead don't die on schedule. I demand to see your master!" Charles replied.

"He's not in, sir." She said before trying to close the door.

"Don't lie to me, child! Summon him at once." Charles responded, pushing the door open.

"I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Dickens, but the master's indisposed." She replied.

On the wall, the gas light flickered before the fire grew.

"Having trouble with your gas?" The Doctor asked.

We heard noises going on in the building, "What the Shakespeare is going on?"

The Doctor ran past the woman in into the house, putting his ear against the wall.

"You're not allowed inside, sir."

"There's something inside the walls." The Doctor said, ignoring what she said. "The gas pipes, something's living inside the gas."

"Let me out! Open this door!"

Rose.

"Rose!" I yelled, running into the house.

The Doctor ran in front of me and a man came to stop him, "How dare you, sir?! This is my house!"

"Shut up!"

The Doctor kicked open the door, "I think this is my dance."

I grabbed Rose and pulled her next to me.

"It's a prank. Must be." Charles said from behind us. "We're under some mesmeric influence."

"No, we're not. The dead are walking." Teh Doctor replied before looking at Rose, "Hi."

"Hi. Who's you're friend?"

"Charles Dickens." I sneered.

"Okay."

"My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?" The Doctor asked.

"We're failing. Open the rift, we're dying. Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us." They said before the blue mist flew out of their mouths and into the gas light.

A few minutes later we were all sitting in the living room as the woman, Gwyneth, poured us tea. Rose was pretty angry about being kidnapped, "First of all, you drug me, then you kidnapped me, and don't think I didn't feel your hands having a quick wander, you dirty old man!" Rose yelled at him.

"I won't be spoken to like this!"

"Then you stuck me in a room full of zombies. And if that ain't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! So come on, talk!" Rose finished.

"It's not my fault! It's this house! It always had a reputation. Haunted. But I never had much bother until about three months back, and then the stiffs... the, um, the dear departed... started getting restless."

"Tommyrot." Charles said.

"You witnessed it! Can't keep beggars down, sir. They walk. And it's the queerest thing, but they hang on to scraps. Once old fella, used to be a sexton, almost walked into his own memorial service." He told Charles, "Just like the old lady going to your performance, sir. Just as she planned."

"Morbid fancy."

"Oh, Charles, you were there." The Doctor said.

"I saw nothing but an illusion." He replied.

"If you're gonna deny it, don't waste my time, just shut up." The Doctor told Charles before turning back to Mr. Sneed, "What about the gas?"

"That's new, sir, never seen anything like that." He answered.

"Means it's getting stronger, the rift's getting wider and something's getting through." The Doctor said.

"What's the rift?" I asked.

"A weak point in time and space. A connection between this place and another. That's the cause of ghost stories, most of the time." He answered.

"That's how I got the house so cheap. Stories going back generations, echos in the dark, queer songs in the air, and this feeling like a... shadow passing over your soul. Mind you, truth be told, it's been good for business. Just what people expect from a gloomy old trade like mine."

The Doctor left the room to find Charles and I followed Gwyneth. Rose said she was going to stay and drink her tea.

"Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right." She said as I folded a towel

"Don't be daft. That Sneed works you to death." I replied. "How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, miss." Gwyneth answered.

"How much?"

"I know, I would've been happy with six." She replied.

"So did you go to school?" I asked.

"Of course I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper." Gwyneth answered.

"What, once a week?" I replied.

She nodded, "We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second."

"Me, too."

"Don't tell anyone, but one week, I didn't go, and I ran down the heath, all on my own." She laughed.

"Oh, I did plenty of that," I smiled. "I used to go 'round the shops with Rose. We used to go and look at boys."

"Well, I don't know much about that, miss."

"Oh, come on, times haven't changed that much. I bet you've done the same." I said.

"I don't think so, miss." Gwyneth replied.

"Gwyneth! You can tell me. I bet you've got your eye on someone." I responded.

"I suppose. There is this one lad. The butcher's boy. He comes by every Tuesday. Such a lovely smile on him." She said.

"Oh, I like a nice smile. Good smile, nice bum." I said.

"Well, I have never heard the like." Gwyneth said before we both laughed,

"Ask him out. Give him a cuppa or something, that's a start." I replied.

"I swear, it is the strangest thing, miss. You've got all the clothes and the breeding, but you talk like some sort of wild thing. And the hair is like something I have never seen." Gwyneth said.

"Maybe I am. Maybe that's a good thing. And I have a weird disease, that explains the hair." I responded, "You need a bit more in your life than Mr. Sneed."

"Oh, now that's not fair. He's not that bad, old Sneed. He was very kind to me to take me in, because I lost my mum and dad to the flu when I was 12."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I replied.

"Thank you miss. But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in paradise. And I'm sorry about your parents. Maybe they're up there, waiting for you, too." She replied.

"I never had parents. They're dead? How did you know that?" I asked.

"I don't know." She answered, turning back to the dishes, "Must've been the Doctor."

"I never told him about it. How do you know all this?" I questioned.

"Mr. Sneed says I think too much. I'm all alone down here. I bet you've got dozens of servants, haven't you miss?" Gwyneth answered.

"No, no servants where I'm from." I replied.

"And you've come such a long way."

"What makes you think so?" I asked.

"You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about, half naked, for shame. And the noise and the metal boxes racing past. And the birds in the sky, no. No, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people inside them. People are flying. And you, you've flown so far, further than anyone. The things you've seen. The darkness. The Big Bad Wolf." I winced and grabbed my arm and she backed away from me. "I'm sorry, miss."

"It's all right." I said, rubbing my arm.

"I can't help it, ever since I was a little girl, my mum said I had the Sight. She told me to hide it."

"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" Teh Doctor asked.

"All the time, sir." She answered. "Every night...voices in my head."

"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." He stated.

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts." Gwyneth said.

"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." The Doctor replied.

"What to do where, sir?" Gwyneth asked.

"We're going to have a séance."

After setting up in one of the rooms we all sat down at the table.

"This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the land of mists down in Butetown. Come, we must all join hands." Gwyneth said.

"I can't take part in this." Charles said, standing up."

"Humbug? Come on, open mind." The Doctor replied, grabbing my hand and I grabbed Rose's.

"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze-box concealed between the knees. The girl knows nothing." Charles said.

"Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium." The Doctor responded.

"I can't belive you just said that." Rose replied.

"Come on, we might need you." Charles hesitated, but sat down, "Good man." The Doctor turned to Gwyneth, "Now, Gwyneth, reach out."

"Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." She said.

"Can you hear that?" Rose asked when there were noises.

"Nothing can happen." Charles answered. "This is sheer folly."

"Look at her."

Gwyneth was looking up at the ceiling, "I see them. I feel them."

There was now blue mist in there room.

"What are they saying?" Rose asked.

"They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you. You're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through." The Doctor said.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link." The Doctor reassured her.

Gwyneth lowered her head, "Yes."

Behind her, three human-like figures showed up.

"Great god." Mr. Sneed said. "Spirits from the other side.

"The other side of the universe." The Doctor replied.

"Pity us." It said, "Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us."

"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked.

"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make th bridge."

"What for?" He asked.

"We are so very few. The last of our kind, we face extinction."

"Why, what happened?" The Doctor questioned.

"Once, we had a physical form like you. But then the war came."

"War? What war?" Charles asked.

"The Time War. The whole universe convulsed."

I looked over at the Doctor and squeezed his hand, trying to comfort him.

"The Time War raged, invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state."

"So that's why you need the corpses." The Doctor said.

"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us."

"But we can't." Rose replied.

"Why not?" The Doctor asked.

"It's not- I mean, it's not-"

"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." The Doctor interrupted.

"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth." They said before disappearing and Gwyneth fell forward, unconscious.

We all waited for Gwyneth to wake up, Rose patting her forehead with a damp cloth.

"It's all right. You just sleep." Rose told her as she tried to sit up.

"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me?" Gwyneth questioned.

"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're their only chance of survival." The Doctor answered.

"I told you. Leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." Rose told him before handing Gwyneth a glass of water, "Drink this."

"Well, what did you say, Doctor? Explain it again. What are they?" Mr. Sneed asked.

"Aliens."

"Like, foreigners, you mean?" Mr. Sneed replied.

"Pretty foreign, yeah. From up there." The Doctor answered, pointing up at the ceiling.

"Brecon?"

"Close. And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff, but the road's blocked. Only a few can get through. Even then, they're weak. They can only test drive the bodies for so long, then they have to revert to gas and hide in the pipes." The Doctor explained.

"Which is why they need the girl." Charles said.

"They're not having her." Rose argued.

"But she can help. Living on the rift, she's become part of it." The Doctor replied, "She can open it up, make a bridge, and let them through."

"Incredible, ghosts that are not ghosts, but beings from another world who can only exist in our realm by inhabiting cadavers." Charles said.

"Good system. It might work."

"You can't let them run around inside of dead people." Rose said, standing up and walking over to the Doctor.

"Why not? It's like recycling." The Doctor replied.

"Seriously, though, you can't."

"Seriously, though, I can."

"it's just... wrong. Those bodies were living people. We should respect them, even in death." Rose said. "Zoey, tell him."

"I really don't think it matters what I say." I replied.

"Do you carry a donor card?" The Doctor asked her.

"That's different, that's-"

"It is different, yeah, it's a different morality, get used to it or go home." The Doctor interrupted. "You heard what they said. Time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying."

"I don't care. They're not using her." Rose said.

"Don't I get a say, miss?" Gwyneth asked.

"Look, you don't understand what's going on." Rose answered.

"You would say that, miss. 'Cause that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid." Gwyneth replied.

"That's not fair."

"It's true, though. Things might be very different where you're from, but here and now, I know my own mind, and the angels need me." She said to Rose before looking at the Doctor, "Doctor, what do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything." He answered.

"They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mum on a holy mission. So tell me."

"We need to find the rift." He told her, "This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other. Mr. Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house, the place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"

"That would be the morgue." Mr. Sneed answered.

"Huh. Talk about bleak house." The Doctor commented when he walked into the room.

"The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed. 'Cause I know they don't. I know for a fact that corpses weren't walking around 1869." Rose said.

"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world could be rewritten that." Teh Doctor said, snapping his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing."

"Doctor, I think the rooms is getting colder." Charles said.

We looked around as we heard voiced, "Here they come."

The blue mist flew from the gas light and the image appeared at the arch, "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him."

"Promise you won't hurt her." Rose said.

"Hurry, please. So little time. Pity the Gelth."

"I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?" The Doctor said.

"My angels. I can help them live." Gwyneth said.

"Okay, where's the weak point?" Teh Doctor asked.

"Here, beneath the arch."

"Beneath the arch." Gwyneth said, standing where the weak point was.

"You don't have to do this." Rose said.

"My angels."

"Establish the bridge, reach out to the void, let us through."

"Yes. I can see you. I can see you. Come." Gwyneth said.

"Bridgehead establishing."

"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls." She continued.

"It is begun. The bridge is made."

Gwyneth opened her mouth and the blue mist came out.

"She has given herself for the Gelth."

"Rather a lot of them, eh?" Charles asked.

"The bridge is open. We descend."

Then the figure that was under the arch changed from the light blue, to fire.

"The Gelth will come through in force." Instead of th light voice, it was now dark,

"You said that you were few in number." Charles said.

"A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses."

"Oh, Gwyneth. Stop this!" Mr. Sneed yelled. "Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child. And leave these things alone. I beg of you."

"Mr. Sneed, get back!" I yelled when one of the corpses grabbed him.

The Doctor grabbed me and pulled me back and one of the Gelth entered Mr. Sneed.

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong." The Doctor said.

"I have joined the Legions of the Gelth." Mr. Sneed said. "Come. March with us. We need bodies. All of you, dead." He continued, walking toward the Doctor, Rose and I, "The human race, dead."

"Gwyneth, stop them. Send them back, now!" The Doctor yelled.

"Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth."

"Doctor, I-I can't. I-I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me." Charles said as the Doctor opened the gate behind us and pushed Rose and I inside.

We backed ourselves to the wall as the Gelth tried to get reach for us through the gate.

"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives to the Gelth."

"I trusted you. I pitied you." The Doctor said.

"We don't want your pity! We want this world and all its flesh."

"Not while I'm alive." The Doctor replied.

"Then live no more."

"But Zoey and I can't die. Tell me we can't. We haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for us to die. Isn't it?" Rose asked.

"I'm sorry." He replied.

"But it's 1869. How can I die now?" Rose asked.

"Time isn't in a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the 20th century and die in the 19th. And it's all my fault. I brought you two here." The Doctor answered.

"It's not your fault. I wanted to come." I replied.

"What about me? I saw the fall of Troy, World War five. I pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party, now I'm gonna die in a dungeon... in Cardiff." Teh Doctor said.

"It's not just dying. Gonna become one of them." Rose said, looking at the corpses possessed by the Gelth.

"We'll go down fighting, yeah?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Together?"

"Yeah." Teh Doctor answered before grabbing both of our hands. "I'm so glad I met you two.

"Me too." Rose and I said together.

"Doctor, Doctor!" Charles said, running in, "Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now fill the room, all of it, now!"

"What are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

"Turn it all on!" He yelled turning off the gas lights, "Fill up the place."

"Brilliant. Gas."

"What, so we choke to death instead?" Rose asked.

"Am I correct, Doctor?" Charles asked. "These creatures are gaseous."

"Full the room with gas, it'll draw them out of the host. Suck them into the air like poison from a wound." The Doctor explained.

"Dear lord." Charles said as the Gelth turned to him, "I hope that this theory will be validated soon. If not immediately."

"Plenty more." The Doctor said, pulling me away from a gas pipe and ripping it from the wall.

The Gelth started screaming and flew out of the mouths of the corpses.

"It's working."

We opened the gate and walked back into the room, "Gwyneth, send them back! They lied, they're not angels!"

She lowered her arms, "Liars."

"Look at me." The Doctor walked towards her, "If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"

"Can't breath." I said.

"Charles, get them out."

"I'm not leaving her." I said, when Charles grabbed my arm.

"They're too strong." Gwyneth said.

"Remember that world you saw, Zoey's world? All those people, none of it will exist. Unless you send them back through the rift." The Doctor told her.

"I can't send them back." She replied,"But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out."

"You can't!" I yelled.

"Leave this place."

The Doctor grabbed me, "Zoey, you need to get out. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!"

Rose grabbed my arm and we ran through the house, trying to get to the front door. We ran outside and waited for the Doctor and Gwyneth. A few moments later, the Doctor jumped out an teh building exploded.

"She didn't make it." I said.

"I'm sorry. She closed the rift."

"At such a cost. The poor child." Charles said.

"I did try, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes." The Doctor said, looking at me.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"I think she was dead from the minute she stood under that arch." He said.

"But she can't have. She spoke to us." Rose replied. "She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?"

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor." Charles said.

"She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know." I said as we watched the burning building.

After a while we headed back to the TARDIS.

"Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, uh, shed. Won't be long." The Doctor said, grabbing the key out of his pocket.

"What are you gonna do now?" Rose asked him.

"I shall take the mail coach back to London. Quite literally post-haste. There is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." He answered.

"You've cheered up." The Doctor commented.

"Exceedingly!" He chuckled, "This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them."

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asked.

"I shall be subtle, at first. The mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth!" Charles answered.

"Good luck with it." The Doctor said, shaking his hand, "Nice to meet you. Fantastic."

"Bye, then. And thanks." I said, shaking his hand.

"Thank you, Charles." Rose said.

"Thank you, but I don't understand, in what way is this goodbye?" Charles asked. "Where are you going?"

"You'll see. In the shed." The Doctor answered.

"Oh, my soul. Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this, who are you?"

"Just a friend passing though." He answered.

"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you, my books. Doctor do they last?" Charles asked.

"Oh, yes."

"For how long?"

"Forever." He answered. "Right. Shed. Come on, Zoey, Rose."

"In the box? The three of you?" Charles questioned.

"Down, boy. See ya."

"Goodbye, Mr. Dickens." I waved before following the Doctor.

"Doesn't that change history, if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asked.

"In a week's time, it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story." The Doctor answered.

"Oh no. He was so nice." Rose said as we watched Charles from the monitor.

"But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life." He said. "And he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise."

We watched his face as the TARDIS lit up and disappeared.


	4. Aliens of London

"How long have we been gone?" I asked the Doctor when the three of us walked out of the TARDIS and we landed in the Powell estate.

"About twelve hours." He answered.

"We won't be long." Rose laughed, "We're just going to see my mum."

"What are you gonna tell her?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't know. We've been to the year five billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her we spent the night at Zoey's place. See ya later." We waved to him before going towards Rose's place.

"Don't you disappear." I yelled behind me.

"God, why are there so many stairs?" I asked as we ran up the steps to get to Rose's front door.

"You always complain about it." Rose replied before we opened the door, "We're back! We were at Zoey's place."

We walked into the living room and saw Jackie in her dressing gown, walking out of the kitchen.

"So, what's been going on? How have you been?" Rose questioned her.

Jackie was looking at us in surprise, like she hasn't seen us in years.

"What? What's that face for?" Rose asked. "Its not the first time I stayed out all night with Zoey."

Jackie dropped her mug on the ground, breaking it, "It's you."

"Of course it's me." Rose replied.

"Oh, my god, it's you." Jackie gasped before hugging her.

Jackie was crying while hugging her daughter and I looked at the dining table and saw missing posters with Rose and I's pictures on them. Then the door opened and I saw the Doctor run in, "Um, it's not 12 hours. It's, uh, 12 months." He said, looking at Rose and I. "You two have been gone a whole year. Sorry."

While Jackie made us sit down and call t police, Rose was slightly glaring at the Doctor. A policeman came and we told him that we were out traveling.

"The hours I've sat here! Days and weeks and months, all on my own! I thought you two were dead. And where were you? 'Traveling'. What the hell does that mean, traveling?" Jackie asked, yelling at us, "That's no sort of answer." She turned to the policeman, "You ask them. They won't tell me. That's all they say, traveling."

"That's what we were doing." Rose replied.

"With your passport still in the drawer? And Zoey, I went to your flat. Your medicine was still there. It's just one lie after another." Jackie responded.

"We meant to phone, we really did, we just... we forgot." Rose said.

I looked around. It was uncomfortable for everyone in the room while Jackie yelled at Rose and I. Mostly for the Doctor.

"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? And I am left sitting here? I just don't believe you. Why won't you just tell me where you've been?"

"Actually, it's my fault. I sort of, uh, employed Zoey and Rose as my companions." The Doctor said.

"When you say 'companions', is this a sexual relationship?" The policeman asked.

"No." The three of us said at the same time.

"Then what is it?" Jackie asked the Doctor. "Because you, you waltz in here, all charm and smiles and the next thing I know, they vanish off the face of the Earth. How old are you then, 40, 45? What, did you find them on the internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?"

"I am a doctor."

"Prove it. Stitch this, mate." Jackie said before slapping him.

I gasped and covered my mouth with my hand, it looked like it hurt.

* * *

"Did you think about me at all?" Jackie asked, hugging us.

"I did. All the time, but..." Rose was crying,

"One phone call. Just to know that you two were alive." Jackie said.

"I'm sorry." Rose replied. "I really am."

"Do you know, what terrifies me is that you two still can't say. What happened to you, Rose, Zoey? What can be so bad that you can't tell me? Where were you?"

* * *

After showering and changing, Rose and I met up with the Doctor on the roof of the building,

"I can't tell her. I can't even begin. She's never gonna forgive us." Rose said.

"And we missed a year? Was it good?" I asked.

"Middling." The Doctor answered.

"You're so useless." Rose commented.

"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you two going to stay here now?" He asked.

"I don't know. I can't do that to her again, though." Rose answered.

"Well, she's not coming with us." The Doctor said before we laughed.

"No chance."

"I don't do families." The Doctor said.

"She slapped you." I replied.

"900 years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother." He said.

"Your face." I teased.

"It hurt!" He exclaimed.

"You're so gay." Rose said, "When you say 900 years..."

"That's my age."

"You're 900 years old?" Rose asked.

"Yeah." The Doctor answered.

"Jackie was right. That is one hell of an age gap." I commented.

We were silent until we heard a horn honking and we turned around and watched a spaceship fly above us, smoke trailing behind. We watched it fly over the city and crash into Big Ben and landed in the Thames.

"Oh, that's just not fair." Rose said.

"Do aliens follow you everywhere?" I asked.

The Doctor laughed, grabbing out hands before running down the stairs. We started running down the street, where many cars were backed up, honking their horns.

"It's blocked off." The Doctor said when we saw the military.

"We're miles from the centre. The scene must be gridlocked. The whole of London must be closing down." Rose replied.

"I know. I can't believe I'm here to see this. This is fantastic!" The Doctor smiled.

"Well, it seems that your bad driving does some good." I replied.

"Oi, watch it." He teased, looking down at me.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Rose asked.

"Nope."

"Do you recognize the ship?" Rose questioned.

"Nope."

"Do you know why is crashed?"

"Nope."

"Oh, I'm so glad we got you." I said.

"I bet you are. This is what I travel for, Zoey, to see history happening right in front of us." The Doctor replied.

"Well, let's go and see it." I responded.

"Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS." Rose continued.

"Better not. They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London. I don't want to shove another one on top." The Doctor replied.

"Yeah, but yours is looks like a big blue box." Rose said. "No one's going to notice."

"You'd be surprised. Emergency like this, there'll be all kinds of people watching. Trust me, the TARDIS stays where it is." He replied.

"So, history's happening and we're stuck here." Rose stated.

"Yes, we are."

"We could always do what everybody else does." The Doctor looked at her in confusion, "We could watch it on tv."

* * *

We sat in the living room, The Doctor sitting on the chair, Rose on the couch and I was sitting on the ground near the telly. We watched from different channels about the crash.

Then our neighbor, who was sitting at the table started yelling at us and Jackie was talking, too.

"Oi, I'm trying to listen." The Doctor said.

I sat up straighter when the news guy said that the people who were looking at the wreckage found a body and the camera zoomed in and filmed a few men bringing a body wrapped in a tarp up on shore.

"Guess who asked me out. Billy Croot." Jackie said before sitting down.

The channel changed to a baking show and I turned around and saw the Doctor fighting for the remote from a toddler who was sitting on his lap and I smiled. Once he got it back he turned it back to the news.

_"We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albain Hospital. With the roads closed off, it's the closest to the river. General Asquith now entering the hospital. The building's been evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls."_

They then started talking about how they haven't heard anything from the Prime Minister since this whole thing started.

* * *

Later that night I saw the Doctor leaving. I got Rose's attention and pointed at him.

"And where do you think you're going?" Rose asked as we walked up to him.

"Nowhere." He answered. "It's, uh, just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half-price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

"Right, there's a spaceship on the Thames, and you're just 'wandering'." I replied.

"Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, color of smoke, everything- it's perfect." The Doctor said.

"So..."

"So maybe this is it. First contact, the day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race." He smiled, "I'm not interfering, 'cause you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning, you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand! You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your family." The Doctor said before turning around.

"Promise you won't disappear?" I asked.

He turned around before patting his pockets, "Tell you what." He pulled out a key, "TARDIS key. About time you two had one."

We both grabbed one, "See you later." He said before leaving.

I sighed, "Come on, Rosie."

* * *

"Here's to the martians!" Jackie exclaimed, holding up her glass.

"The martians!"

Then it was silent I looked over and saw Mickey staring at Rose.

"I was gonna come and see you." Rose said, sitting up from the chair.

"Someone owes Mickey an apology." Mrs. Wang commented.

"I'm sorry." Rose said.

"Not you." Mrs. Wang replied, turning to Jackie.

"Well, it's not my fault. Be fair. What was I supposed to think?" Jackie said before going into the kitchen and Rose, Mickey, and I followed.

"You disappear, who do they turn to? Your boyfriend." Mickey said, pacing the kitchen, "Five times I was taken in for questioning - five times. No evidence, of course, there couldn't be, could there? And then I get her, your mother, whispering around the estate, pointing her finger stuff through my letterbox, and all 'cause of you."

"I didn't think I'd be gone so long." Rose replied.

"And I waited for you, Rose, 12 months, waiting for you, and the Doctor, and Zoey to come back." Mickey finished.

"Hold on. You knew about the Doctor? Why didn't you tell me?" Jackie questioned.

"Yeah, yeah, why not Rose?" Mickey asked, shutting the door so no one could hear, "Why not Zoey? How could I tell her where you went?"

"Tell me now." Jackie commanded.

"I might as well, 'cause you're both stuck here. The Doctor's gone. Just now, that box thing just faded away." Mickey said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He's left you. Both of you." Mickey answered.

I pushed past Mickey and opened the door before I left the flat with Rose and Mickey behind me.

"He wouldn't just go. He promised me. He promised us." I said as we looked around where the TARDIS was.

"Oh, he dumped you Zoey, Rose, and sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you two are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it." Mickey said as Jackie walked up to us.

"He would have said." Rose replied.

"What are you three chimps going on about?" Jackie asked. "What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?"

Mickey laughed, "He vamoosed."

"He's not, 'cause he gave us this. He wouldn't leave us." I said, holding up the key.

I stared at it as it started glowing yellow, then I heard the TARDIS, "Told you he wouldn't leave us."

Rose turned to Jackie, "Mum. Mum, go inside. Mum, don't stand there. Just go inside. Oh, blimey."

Jackie stood there, mouth wide open, as the TARDIS appeared where it was hours before.

"How'd you do that, then?" Jackie questioned.

I sighed before walking inside with Rose.

"All right, so I lied. I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake." The Doctor said, looking at the monitor, "It's just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben, come on. So I though, 'let's go and have a look'-"

"My mum's here." Rose interrupted.

The door closed and I saw Mickey and Jackie.

"Oh, that's just what I need." The Doctor said before turning to Rose, "Don't you dare make this place domestic."

"You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought Zoey and Rose were dead. I was a murder suspect because of you." Mickey said.

"See what I mean? Domestic."

"I bet you don't even remember my name." Mickey said, walking toward the console.

"Rickey." The Doctor replied, turning to face him.

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Rickey."

"I think I know my own name."

"You think you know your own name? How stupid are you?"

"Mum, don't." Rose said as Jackie turned and walked out the door. Rose turned to me, "Make sure they don't start a fight."

A few seconds later Rose ran back in, "That was a real spaceship."

"Yep." The Doctor replied as we looked at the monitor.

"So, it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?" Rose questioned.

"Funny way to invade, putting the whole world on red alert." Mickey said from behind us.

"Good point. So, what are they up to?"

* * *

The Doctor was under the console, doing something while I sat on top of the metal floor.

"So, what are you doing down there?" Mickey asked, watching the Doctor.

"Rickey." The Doctor said, his words muffled my his screwdriver and I took it out of his mouth.

"Mickey." He corrected

"Rickey. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?" The Doctor questioned.

"I suppose not."

"Well, shut it, then." The Doctor said.

Mickey glared at him before walking over to Rose. The Doctor held his hand up, silently asking for his sonic screwdriver. After using it, he laughed, "Got it!"

I helped him out of the small space, "Patched in the radar, looped it back 12 hours so it followed the flight of that spaceship. Here we go."

We watched the monitor as an image of Earth appeared and there was a small moving dot moving into the Earth.

"That's the spaceship on its way to Earth. See. Except- hold on. See, the spaceship did a slingshot 'round the Earth before it landed." The Doctor said.

"What does that mean?" Rose asked.

"Means it came from Earth in the first place." He answered. "It went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while. Question is, what have they been doing?"

* * *

"How many channels do you get?" Mickey asked as we went through all of the news channels all over the world.

"All the basic packages." The Doctor answered.

"You get sports channels?"

"Yes, I get the football." He said before looking at the screen, "Hold on. I know that lot."

The government was getting alien specialists apparently.

"UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce- good people."

"How do you know them?" I asked.

"'Cause he's worked for them." Rose and I looked at Mickey, "Yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for 12 months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the internet or in history books and there's his name, followed by the list of the dead."

The Doctor didn't seem bothered by it, "That's nice. Good boy, Rickey."

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" I asked.

"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days." The Doctor answered, twisting and pulling, "Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there, and fake aliens, want to keep this alien out of the mix." He said, pointing at himself. "I'm going undercover. And, uh, better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Rickey, you've got a car. You can do some driving."

"Where to?" Mickey asked as we walked out of the TARDIS doors.

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship."

We walked out and above us, there was a helicopter shining a spotlight at us, "Do not move. Step away from the box and raise your hands above your heads. You are under arrest. Do not move." Around us, police cars stopped and police and military pointed there guns at us. Mickey ran and some of the military followed him.

"Rose! Zoey!" Jackie yelled, held back by some of the men.

"Raise your hands above your head. You are under arrest."

The Doctor raised his hands and smiled at the helicopter, "Take me to your leader."

* * *

"This is a bit posh." I said as I sat next to the Doctor, Rose sitting next to me. "If I'd known it was going to be like this, being arrested, I would've done it years ago."

"We're not being arrested. We're being escorted." The Doctor replied.

"Where to?" Rose asked.

"Where do you think? Downing street." He laughed.

"You're kidding." Rose replied.

"I'm not."

"10 Downing street?" Rose asked.

"That's the one." The Doctor said.

"Oh, my god. We're going to 10 Downing Street? How come?" I questioned.

"I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years, I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, uh, noticed." The Doctor answered.

"Now they need you?" I asked.

"Like it said on the news, they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert in the lot?"

"Patrick Moore?" I joked.

"Apart from him." He replied.

"Oh, don't you just love it?" I smiled.

"I'm telling you, Lloyd George, oh, he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?" He asked.

"How should we know? We missed a year." Rose answered.

When we got out of the car, there were people taking pictures of us. And the Doctor was actually posing for them before we went inside. We were directed to a waiting room.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convene?" A man said, walking into the room. Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right and can I remind you, I.D. cards are to be worn at all times." He said before coming up to us, "Here's your I.D. card. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance."

"I don't go anywhere without them." The Doctor replied, putting on his card.

"You're the Code 9. Not them. I'm sorry, uh, Doctor. It's 'The Doctor', isn't it? They'll have to stay outside." I read his I.D. card, Indra, said.

"They're staying with me." The Doctor responded, putting his arms around our shoulders.

"Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in, and that's a fact." Indra replied.

"Doctor, he's just trying to do his job. We'll be fine in here." I said.

"Excuse me, are you the Doctor?" A lady asked.

"Sure." The Doctor answered.

"Not now. We're busy. Can't you go home?" Indra asked.

I turned to the Doctor, "Go already." I said, pushing him through the doorway.

"I'm going to have to leave you two with security." Indra said.

"It's all right." The lady said, "I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." She looked at us, "Walk with me. Just keep walking. That's right. Don't look 'round. Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North." We stood by the stairs, "This friend of yours. He's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

"Why do you want to know?" Rose asked.

Harriet started crying nad I hugged her, trying to comfort her. We walked until we reached the cabinet room. Harriet went into the cupboard and took out what looked like human skin, "He turned the body into a suit. A disguise for the thing inside!"

"It's all right. We believe you." I said, comforting her as she started crying again.

"It's alien. They must have some serious technology behind this. If we could find it... we could use it." Rose said, checking under the table, she opened up a closet and a body fell out.

"Oh my god. Is that the-"

"Harriet for god's sake!" I heard Indra. "This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander-" He stopped when he saw the body, "Oh my God. That's the Prime Minister."

"Ohh." I saw a plump woman slowly walk into the room and shut the door behind her, "Has someone been naughty?"

"That's not possible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!" Indra said to the woman.

"And who told you that?" She asked, walking over to him, "Hmm? Me."

She lifted her hair away from her forehead, and I saw a zipper. She grabbed it and a blue light came from her head. It was a body suit for the green thing inside. It growled as it stood up to its full height. It grabbed Indra and pinned him to the wall. We watched in horror as it squeezed the life out of the poor man.


	5. World War Three

Then electricity went through the alien's body and it dropped the lifeless Indra to the ground as it screamed in pain. Rose grabbed my hand and I grabbed Harriet's as we ran past the screaming alien and out the door. We ran down the hallway and Harriet stopped us, "They're still in there. The emergency protocols, we need them."

Rose gave me a confused look before we ran back to the room. Harriet screamed when the alien was right in front of her. I grabbed Harriet and we ran as it followed us. We ran down the hallway, into two different rooms and down another hallway and Rose tried to open the door. It was locked. Lovely. I turned around and saw that the Doctor was distracting it, so Rose, Harriet, and I ran into the room next to it.

"Hide." Rose said when the other door in the room was locked.

Rose his behind a cabinet and Harriet his behind a screen while I was behind a curtain.

"Oh, such fun. Little human children, where are you?" I heard the creature say, " Sweet little humankins, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips."

The curtain moved and I thought I was caught. I looked over and saw Rose. She smiled nad grabbed my hand.

"My brothers."

"Happy hunting?" Another said.

How many of these things are there?

"It's wonderful." The one that was chasing us answered. "The more you prolong it, the more they stink."

"Sweat and fear. I can smell an old girl, stale bird, and brittle bones. And two ripe youngsters, all hormones and adrenaline, fresh enough to bend before they snap."

The female alien pulled back the curtain and Rose screamed.

"No! Take me first!" Harriet yelled, coming out of her hiding place. "Take me!"

Then the Doctor charged in with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed them with the CO2.

"Out, with me." He said.

I took down the curtain and covered the alien in front of Rose and I before we ran to the Doctor.

"Who the hell are you?" The Doctor asked, looking at Harriet.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North." She answered.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Harriet replied.

The Doctor sprayed them again and we left the room, "We need to get to the cabinet rooms!"

"The Emergency Protocols are in there. They give instructions for aliens." Harriet said as we ran behind the Doctor.

"Harriet Jones, I like you." The Doctor said.

"I think I like you, too." Harriet replied.

We ran back through the way we came and back into the Cabinet Room. I locked the door behind us and ran to the Doctor, who was holding a bottle of alcohol,

"One more move, and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Woof! We all go up. So back off." He said.

Rose was to my left and Harriet was to my right, holding the protocols. The aliens took a few steps back and he lowered the bottle, "Right, then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens." Harriet stated.

"I got that, thanks."

"Who are you, if you're not human?" One asked.

"Who's not human?" Harriet questioned.

"He's not human." I answered.

"He's not human?"

"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor asked.

"Sorry."

"So what's the plan?" He asked, turning back to the Slitheen.

"But he's got a Northern accent."

"Lots of planets have a North." I said, quoting the Doctor.

"I said hush." The Doctor said. "Come on, you've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of Government, what for, invasion?"

"Why would we invade this godforsaken rock?"

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor asked.

"The Slitheen race? Slitheen is not our species." They hissed, "Slitheen is out surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasmeer-Day-Slitheen at your service."

"So, you're family." The Doctor said.

"A family business."

"Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a godforsaken rock?" The Doctor questioned.

"Uh, excuse me. Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"

"Is that what I said?" He asked.

"You're making it up."

"Ah, well, nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." The Doctor said, holding the bottle over his shoulder.

"You pass it to the left first." Harriet replied.

"Sorry." He said before giving it to Rose.

"Thanks."

"Now we can end this hunt... with a slaughter."

"Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked.

The Doctor crossed his arms, "Fascinating history, Downing Street. 2000 years ago, this was marshland. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken, he was a nice man, 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet was in session, and in danger, these were about the four safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of Lesson."

The Doctor pressed a button and the windows and doors around us were covered in metal.

"Installed in 1991, 3 inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." He smiled.

"But how do we get out?" I asked.

He nodded, "Ah."

* * *

"What's his name?" The Doctor asked, dragging Indra's body into the cupboard.

"Who?"

"Indra." I answered.

"Sorry, Indra." The Doctor said. "Right, what have we got? Any terminals, anything?"

"No, this place is antique." Rose answered. "What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"

"He's too slim. They're big old beasts, they need to fit inside big humans." He answered, going to each window and using the sonic.

"But the Slitheen are about eight feet." I said, "How do they squeeze inside?"

"That's the device around they're necks. Compression field, literally, shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange." The Doctor answered.

"Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller." Rose joked.

"Excuse me, people are dead. This is no time to be making jokes." Harriet said, looking up from the briefcase.

"Sorry. You get used to this stuff when you're friends with him." I replied.

"Well, that's a strange friendship." Harriet commented.

"You have no idea." Rose replied.

"Harriet Jones, I've heard that name before. Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?" The Doctor asked.

"Ha! Hardly." She answered.

"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones."

"Lifelong back-bencher, I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being right now- the protocols are redundant- they list the people who can help, and they're all dead downstairs." Harriet said.

"Hasn't it got defense codes and things?" I asked. "Can we just launch a nuclear bomb at them?"

"You're a very violent young woman." Harriet said.

I thought about it for a moment and shrugged, "But I'm serious, though. We could."

"Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations." Harriet replied.

"Say that again." The Doctor said.

"What, about the codes?"

"Anything. All of it."

"Um, well, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the U.N." Harriet said.

"Like that's ever stopped them." Rose commented.

"Exactly, given our past record, and I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the U.N." She turned to the Doctor, "Is it important?"

"Everything's important." He answered.

"If only we knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me, I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal."

"What do they want, though?" I asked.

"Well, they're just one family, so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World. They're out to make money. That means they want to use something. Something here on Earth. Some kind of asset." The Doctor answered.

"Like what? Gold, oil, water?" Harriet questioned.

"You're very good at this." The Doctor said to her.

"Thank you."

"Harriet Jones, why do I know that name?" He asked again.

"Oh, that's me." Rose said when her phone went off.

"But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Harriet asked, turning to Rose.

"He zapped it. Super phone." Rose answered.

"Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts." Harriet said to the Doctor.

"Dead downstairs, yeah." He replied.

"It's Mickey." Rose said, looking at her phone.

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." The Doctor said.

"Yeah. he's not so stupid after all." Rose replied, showing us the picture of the Slitheen that Mickey sent her.

Rose took the phone away and called Mickey, "Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me."

The Doctor took her phone, "Is this Rickey? Don't talk. Just shut up and go to your computer. Mickey the idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence but, I, uh, I need you."

After the Doctor told Mickey what to do, he hooked the phone to something so we could all hear it, "Say again."

"It's asking for the password." Mickey said.

"Buffalo. Two F's, one L."

"So what's that website?" Jackie asked from the background.

"All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years, they just kept us in the dark." Mickey answered her.

"Mickey, you were born in the dark."

"Oh, leave him alone."

"Thank you. Password again." Mickey said.

"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor replied. "Big Ben, why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet said.

"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London."

"The Slitheen were hiding, but then they put the entire planet on red alert. What would they do that for?" Rose asked.

"Oh, listen to her." Jackie grumbled.

"Well, at least I'm trying." Rose bit back.

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pit of hell in my own living room, and my daughter and her best friend disappear off the face of the Earth." Jackie started.

"I told you what happened."

"I'm talking to him. 'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor, and maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Are they safe?"

"We're fine." I said.

"Are they safe? Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that?" The Doctor became silent and looked up at us, "Well, what's the answer?"

"We're in." Mickey said from the other line, breaking the silence.

"Now, then, on the left, at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that." The Doctor said.

"What is it?" Mickey asked.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting a signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying." The Doctor answered.

"He'll have to answer me one day." Jackie muttered.

"Hush."

"It's some sort of message." Teh Doctor said.

"What's it say?" I asked.

"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating." He answered before the doorbell in Mickey's flat rang, "Hush!"

"That's not me. Go and see who that it." Mickey told Jackie.

"It's beaming out into space, who's it for?"

"They've found us." Mickey said.

"Mickey, I need that signal."

"Nevermind the signal, get out! Mum, just get out! Get out!" Rose yelled.

"We can't it's by the front door. Oh, my god. It's unmasking. It's going to kill us." Mickey replied.

"There's got to be some way of stopping them!" Harriet exclaimed. "You're supposed to be the expert! Think of something."

"I'm trying!"

"I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run." Mickey said. "Don't look back. Just run!"

"That's my mother." Rose said.

"Right! If we're gonna find their weakness we need to know where they're from. Which planet. So judging by their body shape that narrows it down to about 5,000 planets in travelling distance. Now what else do we know? Information!" The Doctor said.

"They're green." Rose said.

"Yep, Narrows it down."

"Good sense of smell." I said.

"Narrows it down."

"They can smell adrenaline." Rose said.

"Narrows it down."

"The pig technology." Harriet said.

"Narrows it down."

"The spaceship in the Thames; you said slipstream engine." I said.

"Narrows it down."

"It's getting in!"

"They hunt like it's a ritual." Rose continued.

"Narrows it down."

"Wait a minute! Did you notice when they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, um..." Harriet started.

"Bad breath." I finished.

"That's it!"

"Calcium decay. Now that Narrows it down!"

"We're getting there, Mum!"

"Too late!"

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else - what else? Hyphenated surnames. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet! Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

"Oh yeah, great! We can write 'em a letter." Mickey said sarcastically.

"Get into the kitchen." The Doctor ordered. "Calcium, recombined with compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!"

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet exclaimed.

"Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

"How should I know?" Mickey asked.

"It's your kitchen!" I replied.

"Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf." Rose said.

"Oh, give it here. What do you need?" Jackie asked.

"Anything with vinegar!" The Doctor yelled.

"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs."

"And you kiss this man?" The Doctor asked Rose.

When we heard no more screeching, we all sighed with relief.

"Hannibal?" Rose and I questioned.

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet explained.

"Listen to this." Mickey said.

_"Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads, and they have found massive weapons of destruction, capable of being deployed within 45 seconds." _

"What?"

_"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction... unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival. Because... from this moment on, it is my solemn duty to inform you, planet Earth is at war."_

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there." The Doctor said. "There's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet asked.

"Well, you did last time." Rose answered.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They wan the whole world panicking, 'cause you lot, you get scared, you lash out." He said.

"They release the defense codes..." I started.

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor finished.

"But why?!" Harriet exclaimed as the Doctor raised the steel.

"You get the codes, release the missiles. But not into space, 'cause there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth, they retaliate, fight back. World War Three, whole planet gets nuked."

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship, waiting in the Thames. Not crashed. Just parked. Only two minutes away." The female Slitheen said.

"But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?" Harriet asked.

"Profit." The Doctor answered, "That's what the signal is, beaming into space, an advert."

"Sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it, piece by piece. Radioactive chunks capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"At the cost of five billion lives." The Doctor said.

"Hmm. Bargain."

"Then I give you a choice, leave this planet, or I'll stop you." He said.

The four Slitheen started laughing, "What, you... trapped in your box?"

"Yes. Me." He replied before shutting the steel in her face.

* * *

"Alright, Doctor, I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do." Jackie said.

"If we could ferment the porch, we could make ascetic acid." Harriet told us.

"Mickey, any luck?" Rose asked.

"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voice mail." Mickey answered.

"Voice mail dooms us all."

"If we could just get out of here." Rose said.

"There's a way out." The Doctor said.

"What?" I asked, sitting up straight in the chair I was in,

"There's always been a way out."

"Then why don't we use it?" Rose questioned.

The Doctor leaned over the phone, "Because I can't guarantee that Zoey and Rose will be safe."

"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare." Jackie replied.

"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everybody dies." He responded.

"Do it." Rose and I said.

"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" The Doctor asked us.

"Yeah."

"Please, Doctor, please. They're just kids." Jackie begged.

"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."

"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked quietly.

"I could save the whole world, but lose you two."

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor," Harriet said, "It's mine."

"And who the hell are you?" Jackie asked.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf or the people, I command you. Do it."

The Doctor looked from Harriet, to us and smiled.

"How do we get out?" Rose asked as the Doctor opened the protocols.

"We don't. We stay here." He said, looking through some papers before turning back to the phone, "Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything."

"What're you doing?" Jackie asked.

"Hacking into the Royal Navy. We're in. Here it is. HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth." Mickey replied.

"Right, we need to select a missile." The Doctor said.

"We can't go nuclear. We don't have the defense codes." Mickey replied.

"We don't need it. All we need's an ordinary missile. What's the first category?" He asked.

"Sub harpoon, UGM-84A."

"That's the one. Select." He ordered. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah." Mickey replied.

"Mickey the idiot, the world is in your hands. Fire."

"How solid are these?" Harriet asked, motioning to the steel.

"Not solid enough. Built for short-range attack, nothing this big." The Doctor answered.

"All right, now I'm making the decision. We're not gonna die, we're gonna ride this one out." Rose said, backing toward the cupboard, "It's like what they say about earthquakes, you can survive them by standing under a door frame. Now, this cupboard's small, so it's strong. Come and help me. Come on!"

I ran over to Rose and we started emptying the small space.

"It's on radar. Counter Defense 556." Mickey said.

"Stop them intercepting it." The Doctor replied.

"I'm doing it now."

"Good boy."

"556 neutralized." Mickey said after a moment.

The Doctor unplugged the phone and we ran into the cupboard. I sat between the Doctor and Rose, holding both of their hands and Harriet was on the other side of Rose.

"Well, nice knowing you both." She said. "Hannibal!"

We felt the explosion hit the building and we were sent flying. I screamed, burying my face into the Doctor's shoulders. When we stopped moving, the Doctor helped me up before kicking the door open.

"Made in Britain." Harriet said, stepping out.

"Oh, my god. Are you all right?" A man in police uniform asked, running up to us.

"Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact the U.N. immediately, tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down." Harriet ordered. "Go on, tell the news."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out." Harriet said to us. "Oh, Lord! We haven't even got a Prime Minister."

"Maybe you should have a go." The Doctor replied.

"Me? Ha. I'm only a back-bencher."

"I'd vote for you." I said.

"Me too."

"Now, don't be silly. Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." Harriet said, getting out her badge, "Hang on!" She walked out of the rumble and towards the police and other people who gathered around, "Sergeant!"

"I thought I knew the name." The Doctor said to us, "Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age."

"The crisis has passed!" Harriet yelled. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today."

Rose and I decided to go and see if Jackie was okay, while the Doctor went back to the TARDIS. Once we stepped into the flat, Jackie hugged both of us. When we were done with the hug fest, I decided to have a shower. Once I was done, I walked into Rose's room and she was packing clothes.

"Ready?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I answered, sitting on the bed and yawning.

"I was wondering whether he drinks or not." Jackie said from the doorway.

"Yeah, he does." I answered, "Why?"

"Mum wants to cook dinner for him." Rose said.

"Don't go, sweethearts." Jackie begged. "Please don't go."

* * *

The three of us walked out of the building and over to the Doctor and Mickey, who were talking.

"I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends. I'll pass my test, and if Jim comes around again I'll say no, I really will." Jackie said.

"We're not leaving 'cause of you. We're traveling, that's all, and then we'll come back." Rose said.

"But it's not safe."

"Mum. If you saw it out there, you'd never stay home." Rose replied.

"Got enough stuff?" The Doctor asked.

"Last night I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment." Rose shoved the backpack into the Doctor's arms, "Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with us. Ha ha." She said before going over to Mickey. "Come with us. There's plenty of room."

"No chance. He's a liability, not having him on board." The Doctor replied.

"We'd be dead without him." Rose said.

"My decisions final."

"Sorry." Rose said before giving him a kiss goodbye.

"Good luck, yeah."

"You still can't promise me. What if they gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone, standing on some moon a million light years away? How long do I wait then?" Jackie questioned the Doctor.

"Mum. You're forgetting." Rose turned Jackie to face her, "It's a time machine. We could go traveling around suns and planets and all they way out to the edge of the Universe and by the time we get back, yeah, ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying. I'll see you in ten seconds' time. Yeah?"

Jackie hugged Rose before turning and hugging me, "Here you go, sweetheart." She handed me a bottle of my pills.

"I don't need these anymore, Jackie." I replied.

"Just in case." Jackie said before I nodded and followed Rose into the TARDIS.

"What's with the pills?" The Doctor asked, not even looking at me.

"I used to have panic attacks." I answered, "But I'm better now."

"have been for about a year or so." Rose said, putting an arm around my shoulders.


	6. Dalek

"So what is it? What's wrong?" I asked when the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS.

"I don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course." He answered as Rose and I walked out.

"Where are we?" Rose asked.

"Earth, Utah, North America, about half a mile underground."

"And when are we?" I asked.

"2012." The Doctor answered.

"God, that's so close. Zoey, you and I should be 26." Rose said.

There was a click and the lights came on.

"Blimey. Like a great big museum." Rose commented.

"An alien museum." The Doctor replied as we walked around, looking at what was in the display cases "Someone's got a hobby. They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the mileometer from the Roswell spaceship." He said, pointing at a circular thing.

"That's a bit of Slitheen." Rose said, looking at the Slitheen arm, "That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed."

"Oh, look at you."

I walked over to the Doctor and in the display case was a robot-ish looking head with handlebars, "What is it?"

"An old friend of mine, well, enemy. The stuff of nightmare's, reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old." He answered.

"Is that where the signal's coming from?" Rose asked.

"No, it's stone dead. The signal's alive. Something's reaching out, calling for help." The Doctor answered before touching the glass and an alarm went off. Men in armour with filed and pointed guns at us.

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you exhibit A." I commented.

* * *

We were brought into an office where there was two men. One was sitting down and the other was showing him a thingy.

"What does it do?" The man sitting down asked.

"Well, you see, the tubes on the side, must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel." The boy was british.

"I really wouldn't hold it like that." The Doctor said.

"Shut it." The lady beside him hissed.

"Rude." I whispered.

"Really, though, that's wrong." The Doctor continued.

"Is it dangerous?" The british man asked.

"No, it just looks silly." The Doctor reached for the thing and the men pointed their guns at him.

The man motioned them to stand down and let the Doctor take the alien device.

"You just need to be... delicate." The Doctor said as he gently stroked the top of the instruments and a soft, high-pitched tune came out.

"It's a musical instrument." The man stated.

"And it's a long way from home." He smiled.

"Here, let me." The man said, plucking the instrument from his hands.

"I did say delicate." The Doctor replied. "Reacts to the smallest instruments. Needs precision."

After a few tries, the man got it right and the same notes came out of the instrument.

"Very good. Quite the expert." The Doctor commented.

"As are you." The other man replied before throwing it to the side, "Who exactly are you?"

"I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"

"Like you don't know." The man said. "We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artifacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah." The Doctor responded.

"The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down... with your little cat-burgalar accomplices." The man walked over and stood in front of the Doctor before looking at me, "Quite a collector yourself. They're rather pretty."

"She's gonna smack you if you keep calling her 'she'." I replied.

"They're English, too. Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy, got you some friends." He said, looking back at the other man that was there.

"This is Mr. Henry Van Statten." The other man introduced.

"And who's he when he's at home?" Rose asked.

"Mr. Van Statten owns the internet."

"Don't be stupid. No one owns the internet." I replied.

"And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right, kids?" Van Statten smiled.

Well, isn't he full of himself.

"So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up." The Doctor said.

"And you claim greater knowledge?" Van Statten questioned.

"I don't need to make claims. I know how good I am." The Doctor snapped back.

"And yet, I captured you, right next to the cage." Van Statten replied, "What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me."

"The cage contains my one living specimen." Van Statten said.

"And what's that?" The Doctor asked.

"Like you don't know." He replied.

"Show me." The Doctor stated.

"You want to see it?"

"Jeez, you can smell the testosterone." I whispered to Rose but I'm pretty sure the whole room heard it.

"Goddard, inform the cage. We're heading down." Van Statten turned to the other man, "You, English, look after the girls. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name... come and see my pet."

I gripped his leather jacket and he turned towards me, "Don't get into any trouble."

"Same goes from you." He replied before following Van Statten into the lift.

* * *

Adam led us to a room where he works in.

"Sorry about the mess." He said, "Mr. Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods. What do you think that is?"

He held out something and Rose went over and grabbed it, "A lump of metal."

"Yeah, yeah, but I think, well, I'm almost certain, it's from the hull of a spacecraft. The thing is, it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet, spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth, they really exist." Adam replied.

"That's amazing." Rose responded.

"I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe the whole universe is just teeming with life."

"I'm gobsmacked, yeah." Rose said, "And you do what? Sit here and catalog it?"

"Best job in the world." Adam replied.

"Imagine if you could get out there, travel amongst the stars and see it for real." Rose flirted.

I stepped on her foot and she gave me a look.

"Yeah? I'd give anything. I don't think it's ever gonna happen, not in our life times." Adam said.

"Oh, you never know. What about all those people who say they've been inside spaceships and things and talked to aliens?" Rose questioned.

"I think they're nutters." Adam answered,

"Yeah, me too." Rose replied and they laughed.

"So, how'd you end up here?" Rose asked.

"Van Statten has agents all over the world, looking for geniuses to recruit." Adam said.

"Oh, right, you're a genius." Rose joked.

"Sorry, but, yeah. I can't help it. I was born clever. When I was eight, I logged on to the U.S Defense System. Nearly caused World War Three."

"What, and that's funny, is it?" Rose asked.

"Well, you should've been there. Just to see them running about. Fantastic!" Adam exclaimed.

"You sound like the Doctor." Rose commented.

"Are you and him..." Adam trailed off.

"No, we're just friends." Rose replied.

Adam then turned to me the first time since we entered the room, "The are you and the Doctor, you know-"

"No. Why?" I asked.

"I just wondered that's all." He stuttered.

"So... wouldn't you rather be downstairs?" Rose asked. "I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr. Van Statten's got a living creature down there."

"Yeah. Yeah, well, I did ask, but he keeps it to himself. Although, if you're a genius, it doesn't take long to patch you on the com system." Adam answered.

"Let's have a look, then." Rose replied.

I walked over beside the two as Adam typed on his computer, "It doesn't do much, the alien. It's weird. It's kind of... useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot."

On the screen, a man in an oragnge suit picked up a drill and used it on the metal alien and it screamed.

"It's being tortured. Where's the Doctor?" I asked.

"I don't know." Adam answered.

"Take us down there. Now." Rose ordered and she grabbed my hand before we left the room.

* * *

"Hold it right there." A guard said when we walked into the room.

"Level three access. Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten." Adam said before we walked into the cage and faced the metal alien.

"Don't get to close." Adam told us.

I stayed next to Adam as Rose walked up to the alien.

"Hello. Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend. He can help. He's call the Doctor." Rose said. "What's your name."

"Yes."

"What?"

The eye piece moved so it could look at Rose's face, "I am in pain. They torture me. But still, they fear me. Do you fear me?"

Rose shook her head, "No."

"I am dying."

"No, we can help. Right, Zoey?" Rose asked, turning to look at me.

"I welcome death. But... I am glad. That... before I die... I've met a human... who was not afraid.""

"Isn't there anything I can do?" Rose questioned.

"My race is dead. I shall die alone."

Rose raised her hand to touch and I ran over to stop her, "Don't touch it."

But as I grabbed her hand, my other one grazed the metal. I gasped and took a few steps back, taking Rose with me.

"Genetic material extrapolated. Initiate cellular reconstruction!" The chains broke and the man in the orange suit came in,

"What the hell have you done?!" He ran over and the alien pointed a plunger at him, "What are you gonna do? Sucker me to death?"

The plunger reached up and grabbed onto his face and we ran out, "It's killing him! Do something!"

"Condition red. Condition red. I repeat- this is not a drill." The guard said into a speaker.

A few minutes later we saw the Doctor on a screen, "You've got to keep it in that cell."

"Doctor, it's all my fault." I said.

"I've sealed the compartment. It can't get out. That lock's got a billion combinations." The guard replied.

"A dale's a genius. It can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat." The Doctor said.

We turned back to the door and noticed that the Dalek was already doing the combination on the lock. Two guards stood in front of us and pointed their guns at the door.

"Open fire!"

"Don't shoot it! I want it unharmed!" I heard Van Statten say.

"Zoey, Rose! Get out of there!"

When they ran out of ammo the man turned to the female guard, "De Maggio, take the civilians and get them out alive. That is you job. Got that?"

"You, with me."

We followed her down the corridor and we ran past a bunch of guards. We heard gunshots, but they eventually stopped. The Dalek killed them all.

"Stairs, that's more like it." Rose said when we reached the end of the corridor. "It hasn't got legs. It's stuck."

"It's coming! Get out!" She yelled and we went up a few steps before stopping.

The Dalek stopped and looked down at the stairs.

"Great, big, alien death machine. Defeated by a flight of stairs." Adam said.

"Now listen to me," The female guard stated, "I demand that you return to your cage. If you want to negotiate, then I guarantee that Mr. Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong. But people have died, and that stops right now. The killing stops. Have you got that? I demand that you surrender. Is that clear?"

"Elevate." The Dalek said before it rose up from the ground.

"Oh my god." I whispered.

"Adam, get them our of here." She said as the Dalek came towards us.

"Come with us. You can't stop it." I told her.

"Someone's got to try. Now get out! Don't look back, just run!"

She pushed us and we started running up the steps. We were running down a corridor when we heard her scream. She was now dead, too.

We ran into a clearing where there were people with guns and there was weapons all around.

"Hold your fire!" a man commanded, "You three, get the hell out of there!"

We didn't need to be told twice. We ran past all of the people and stopped in a doorway. When we saw it look at us, we ran. It wasn't long before we heard the screams of pain of the men being murdered. We kept running and we reached stair's again.

"This isn't the best time." Rose said into her as we climbed the steps.

"Where are you?" I heard the Doctor through the phone.

"What?" Rose asked.

"Rose, give it." I said and she handed me her phone as we kept running.

"Level 49." I told him.

"You've got to keep moving. The vault's being sealed off, up at level 46." The Doctor replied.

"Can't you stop them closing?" I asked.

"I'm the one who's closing them. I can't wait, and I can't help you. Now, for God's sake, run."

"The vault's being sealed off at level 46." I told Rose and Adam.

"We're nearly there! Give us two seconds!" I said into the phone as we ran.

Rose and Adam were a few feet in front of me. We ran around a corner and I saw the door lowering, "Come on!"

It was half way closed when Adam ran through and it was only about a two feet from the ground as Rose lowered herself and crawled under.

"Zoey!" She yelled as it closed and I banged my fists on the metal.

"Zoey, where are you?" The Doctor asked. "Did you and Rose make it?"

I panted, leaning on my knees for a few seconds before answered, "Rose is fine. She made it."

"What about you?"

"I was a bit slow. I'm sorry." I turned around and saw the Dalek coming towards me.

"Sealed in, Doctor. It wasn't your fault. Remember that, okay? It wasn't your fault. And do you know what? I wouldn't have missed it for the world." I said into the phone before lowering it as the Dalek was only a few meters away from me.

"Exterminate!"

* * *

**Doctor POV**

"I killed her." I whispered as I took the ear pice out.

"I'm sorry."

"I said I'd protect her. She was only here because of me, and you're sorry? I could have killed that Dalek in its cell, but you stopped me." I replied.

"It was the prize of my collection!" Van Statten argued.

"Your collection!? Well, was it worth it? Worth all those men's deaths, worth Zoey?! Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore, to be part of something greater." I started.

"Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!" He yelled, standing up.

"You just want to drag the starts down and stick them underground underneath tons of sand and dirt, and label them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get." I said, "And you took her down with you. She was 19 years old."

* * *

**Zoey POV**

I closed my eyes and prepared for the impact. But when it didn't come, I turned around, "Go on, then, kill me. Why are you doing this?!"

"I am armed. I will kill. It is my purpose."

"They're all dead because of you!" I yelled.

"They are dead because of us!"

"And now what?" I asked, "What are you waiting for?"

"I feel your fear."

"What do you expect?" I questioned.

"Daleks do not fear, must not fear." The Dalek shot lasers from its whisk, but they didn't hit me, "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!"

* * *

**Doctor POV**

The lift opened and I saw Rose and Adam come into the room.

"You were quick on your feet, leaving her behind." I said to the boy.

"I'm not the one who sealed the vault!" He yelled back.

"Doctor," Rose said, "It wasn't her fault. I was going to touch the Dalek, but she stopped me. She accidentally touched it. She didn't mean to."

"Open the bulkhead... or Zoey dies." I turned around and on the screen, there was Zoey and the Dalek.

"You're alive." I gasped.

"Can't get rid of me that easily." She smiled nervously.

"I thought you were dead." I replied.

"Open the bulkhead!"

"Don't do it!" Zoey exclaimed.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?" The Dalek asked.

I turned and looked at Van Statten, "I killed her once. I can't do it again."

* * *

**Zoey POV**

I can't believe it. He opened the bulkhead. What an idiot.

The Dalek was right behind me as we got into a lift and went up.

"I'm begging you. Don't kill them. You didn't kill me." I said as we reached level 20.

"But why not?" It asked as it swung it's eye piece to look at me, "Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?!"

The lift door opened as we reached level one.

"Don't move." I told Van Statten, "Don't do anything. It's beginning to question itself."

"Van Statten... you tortured me. Why?" The Dalek asked as it moved towards the man,

"I wanted to help you. I just- I don't know. I was just trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you... I wanted you better. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I swear! I just wanted you to talk!" Statten exclaimed as he was backed to the wall.

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate. Exterminate! Exterminate!"

I ran up beside the alien, "Don't do it! Don't kill him!" It turned to look at me, "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?"

He looked back at Van Statten before looking at me again, "I want... freedom."

I followed it into this clearing. It pointed it's whisk at the ceiling and shot a hole. He wanted to see the sun.

"You made it. You're out." I told it, "I never thought I'd feel the sunlight again."

"How does it feel?"

I took a few steps back as it's middle separated and inside was this mutated squid. It raised it's tentacle towards the the sunlight.

"Get out of the way!" I turned around and saw the Doctor holding a gun and Rose. "Zoey, get out of the way now!"

"No, 'cause I won't let you do this." I replied,

"That thing killed hundreds of people." He said.

"It's not the one pointing a gun at me." I responded.

"I've got to do this. I've got to end this. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left." The Doctor begged.

I stepped to the side so the Doctor can see it, "But look at it."

"What's it doing?" He asked.

"It's the sunlight. That's all it wants." I answered.

"But it can't."

"It couldn't kill Van Statten. And it couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What are you changing into?" I questioned.

He lowered the gun, "I couldn't... I wasn't... Oh, Zoey. They're all dead."

"Why do we survive?"

"I don't know." The Doctor answered.

"I am the last... of the Daleks."

"You're not even that. Zoey did more than regenerate you. You've absorbed her DNA. You're mutated." The Doctor said.

"Into what?"

"Something new. I'm sorry." He answered.

"Isn't that better?" Rose asked.

"Not for a Dalek." The Doctor told her.

"I can... feel. So many ideas... so much darkness. Zoey... give me orders. Order me to die."

I shook my head, "I can't do that."

"This is not life. This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"

"Do it." I whispered,

"Are you frightened?"

"Yeah, I am." I answered.

"So am I. Exterminate."

I ran over to the Doctor and Rose and she hugged me before we looked back at the Dale. It closed and levitated into the air before the golden balls that were in its armour surrounded it and there was a blue sphere. It exploded before disappearing.

I turned away from where the Dalek used to be and hugged the Doctor.

"Are you okay?" He asked, hugging me back.

I nodded against his chest, "Yeah."

* * *

"Little piece of home. Better than nothing." The Doctor said when we got back to the TARDIS.

"Is that the end of it?" Rose asked, "The Time War?"

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?"

"The Dalek survived. Maybe some of your people did, too." I replied.

"I'd know." He tapped his head, "In here. Feels like there's no one."

"Well, then, good thing we're not going anywhere." I smiled.

"Yeah."

"We'd better get out." Adam said, "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're gonna fill it full of cement. Like it never existed."

"About time." Rose commented.

"I'll have to go back home."

"Better hurry up, then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." The Doctor replied.

"Adam was saying that, all his life, he wanted to see the stars." Rose stated.

"Tell him to go stand outside, then." The Doctor replied.

"He's all on his own, Doctor, and he did help." Rose said.

"He left Zoey down there." He argued.

"So did I. And so did you."

"What are you talking about? We've got to leave." Adam asked.

"Rose, he's a bit pretty." The Doctor said.

"I haven't noticed." Rose replied.

"On your own head." He said before taking out the key and turning toward the TARDIS doors.

"What are you doing? She said cement." Adam said as we walked inside, "She wasn't joking. We're gonna get sealed in. Doctor? What are you doing standing inside a box? Rose?"

Adam stepped inside and gasped. The Doctor started pressing button at the console.


	7. The Empty Child

I sat down in the Captain's chair by the console and rested my chin on my hand.

"You alright?" The Doctor asked.

I yawned, "Yeah, just a bit tired."

"You can go sleep and when you wake up, we'll go someplace. How bout that?"

I shook my head and stood up, "You take Rose and Adam somewhere. I'll just sleep. I promise I won't wander off if I wake up and you three are gone."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. Take them somewhere fantastic. And don't cause trouble." I smiled before going down the corridor to my room.

After taking a nice warm shower I changed into my black nightgown. I washed my face before I looked down at my arm. It's been burning recently. Whenever someone said 'Bad Wolf'. Coincidently, those are the words carved into my arm. I was 14. I was never like that. I was never suicidal. I sort of blacked out and I woke up in the hospital with a bandage wrapped around my arm. The doctor said I was found unconscious in my bedroom at my foster home with a knife. I had to go to therapy for six months. I had no idea what the words meant. And now, I'm hearing them a lot.

I ran my finger over the words before getting in my bed and falling asleep.

I woke up what seemed like hours later.

"Doctor?" I asked.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, sitting on the bed.

"Yes. Why?"

"You've been asleep for a while." He frowned and put the back of his hand against my forehead, "You sure you're not sick?"

"Yes, Doctor, I'm sure. How was your adventure with Adam and Rose?" I asked, sitting up.

He scoffed, "Adam's home now."

"What happened?"

"He messed up big time." Was all the Doctor gave me.

He moved up on the bed and sat next to me, resting his head on the headboard.

"So what else happened while I was asleep?"

"Rose wanted to go to the day her father died. She saved him from being hit by a car and aliens appeared and tried to kill us." He answered.

"That sounds exciting." I replied.

The Doctor cleared his throat, "I, uh, also met this homeless couple. They were really nice."

Where is he going with this?

"Told me they had a baby girl. They wanted her to have everything she ever wanted. So they gave her up."

I now knew exactly what he was talking about.

"They loved me though, right?" I asked.

The Doctor nodded, "Yeah. They did."

"Gwyneth said they were dead. Did you see them... you know?" I questioned.

"No. They didn't die that day. But I did look it up. Your parents were in a shop when it was robbed. They were shot and died in the hospital." He said.

"Were they in any pain?" I asked, tears already running down my face.

"No. I don't think so." I could tell he was lying.

He wrapped an arm around me and I buried my face into his chest.

* * *

After I was done, we walked out of my room and to the console room where Rose was waiting. She showered and changed into jeans and a Union Jack shirt. I changed into black skinny jeans with a plain red t-shirt.

Then there was an alarm sound inside the TARDIS and the Doctor ran over to the monitor.

"What's the emergency?" Rose asked.

"It's mauve." He answered.

"Mauve?" She questioned as the TARDIS shook and I grabbed onto the railing.

"Universally recognized color for danger."

"What happened to red?" I asked.

"Well, that's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp." The Doctor replied, "Oh, the misunderstandings! All those red alerts, all that dancing. It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS, wherever it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, is it?" Rose asked.

"Totally." He answered before sparks flew from the console. "Okay, reasonably. I should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."

"What exactly is this thing?" I questioned.

"No idea." The Doctor replied.

"Then why are we chasing it?" Rose asked.

"It's mauve and dangerous... and about thirty seconds from the center of London.

* * *

"You know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" The Doctor asked as we walked out of the TARDIS.

"Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?" I joked.

"All the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow?" The Doctor joked back before looking around, "Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago, maybe a month."

"A month?" Rose questioned, "We were right behind it."

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place, we're bound to be a little bit off." The Doctor replied. "Do you want to drive?"

"Yeah." I answered.

"How much is a little?" Rose asked.

"A bit."

"Is that exactly a bit"

"-ish."

"What's the plan, then?" I asked.

"Yeah, are you gonna do a scan for alien tech or something?" Rose replied.

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask." The Doctor answered, showing us his psychic paper.

"Dr. John Smith. Ministry of Asteroids." I read out loud.

"Not very 'Spock', is it, just asking?" Rose said.

"Door, music, people. What do you think?" the Doctor asked.

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech." Rose answered. "Gimme some Spock, for once. Would it kill ya?"

The Doctor took out his screwdriver and tried to unlock the door, "Are you sure about that t-shirt?"

Rose looked down at her shirt, "Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

"Mummy!" I heard a little kid say.

Rose must have heard it too because we started walking towards the sound.

"Mummy!"

"Come on, if you're coming. Won't take a minute." The Doctor said, opening the door.

He went inside and Rose and I looked around more, "Mummy!"

On top of a building, I saw a little kid wearing a gas mask. He must have been the one calling for his mummy.

"Doctor?" I questioned.

"Doctor, there's a kid up there!" Rose yelled.

"Come on." I told Rose, grabbing her hand and trying to find a way up to the kid.

"Are you all right up there?" Rose asked him.

"Mummy!"

We climbed up a fire escape and too the top of the roof but he was gone, we looked around and saw him on top of a metal crate.

"Mummy." The kid said.

"Okay, hang on, don't move." I told him.

Then a rope appeared right in front of us and Rose grabbed onto it. She looked at me and I shrugged. She started climbing up the rope, with me behind her. This reminded me of gym class. I hated gym.

"Mummy." The kid repeated, "Balloon!"

I let out a scream when the rope moved away from the crate th kid was on and I looked up. The rope was attached to a balloon.

"Rose!" I yelled.

"Zoey!"

We went higher in the air and I noticed a lot of balloons in the air, and explosions.

"Okay, maybe not this t-shirt." Rose said.

Aeroplanes flew beneath us, dropping bombs everywhere.

"You okay down there?" Rose asked.

"Just peachy." I replied.

I looked up at Rose just when she let go of the rope and fell. I grabbed her hand, but my grip on the rope wasn't good enough, because I fell, too. Then, this blue beam surrounded us and we stopped falling.

"Okay, okay, I've got you two." A man said.

"Who's got us?" I asked.

"Yeah, who's got us, and, you know, how?" Rose continued.

"I'm just programming your decent pattern. Stay as still as you can, and keep your hands and feet inside the light field." He said.

"Decent pattern?" Rose questioned.

"Oh, and can you switch off your cell phone?" He asked.

"Wha-" Rose scoffed.

"No, seriously, it interferes with my instrument."

"Rose, just do it." I told her.

"Fine." She grumbled and she took out her cell phone and turned it off.

"Thank you. That's much better." The man said.

"Oh, yeah, that's a real load off, that is." Rose replied. "We're hanging in the sky in the middle of a German air raid with a Union Jack across my chest, but, hey! My mobile phone's off!"

"Rosie, calm down." I hissed.

"Be with you in a moment." He told us and it was silent for a moment until he spoke again, "Ready for you. Hold tight."

"To what?" I asked.

"Fair point." He replied before we were sucked down the light field.

Suddenly, a hand wrapped itself around my waist, "I got you two. You're fine. You're just fine."

I looked over and saw that he had a hand around Rose as well.

"The tractor beam can scramble your head just a little." He said.

"Hello." Rose whispered to him.

"Hello." He smiled.

"Hello." Rose repeated, "Sorry, that was hello twice there. Dull, but, you know, thorough."

"Are you two okay?" The man was American.

"Fine." I answered, stepping away a little.

"I'm fine, too. Why, are you expecting me to faint or something?" Rose asked.

"You look a little dizzy." I told Rose.

"What about you? You're not even in focus." Rose replied before fainting against the man.

He chuckled and set her on a bed that was next to him

"Hi." He said, looking up at me.

"Hello." I replied, sitting down on the chair behind me. "So, who're you?"

He handed me a piece of blank paper, "Captain Jack Harkness. 133 Squadron, Royal Air Force."

"Liar." I replied, handing him the paper, "Psychic paper. I have a friend with one."

"Clever girl. What's your name, Cherry?" Jack asked me.

"It's Zoey, not Cherry." I answered.

"Nice to meet you, Zoey." He smiled charmingly at me.

"Likewise, Captain Jack Harkness." I held out my hand for him to shake, but instead he brought my knuckles to his lips.

"Wow." We looked over and saw Rose looking around the ship. "You have lights in here?"

Jack flipped a switch above him and the ship illuminated, "Hello."

"Hello." Rose replied.

"Hello." Jack repeated.

"Let's not start that again." Rose said.

Jack chuckled, "Okay."

Rose fixed her shirt and sat next to him, "So, um, who are you supposed to be, then?"

Jack handed her the psychic paper, "Captain Jack Harkness, 133 Squadron, Royal Air force, American Volunteer."

"Liar." Rose said, "This is psychic paper. It tells me whatever you want it to tell me."

"How do you know?" Jack asked.

"Two things, one, Zoey and I have a friend that uses this all of the time, and two, you just handed me a piece of paper telling me that you're single and you work out." Rose answered.

"Tricky thing, psychic paper." Jack commented.

"Yeah, can't let your mind wander when you're handing it over." Rose replied, handing him the paper.

"Oh, you sort of have a boyfriend called Mickey Smith, but you consider yourself to be footloose and fancy free." Jack said, looking at the paper.

I let out a small laugh and covered my mouth with my hand when Rose glared at me. I cleared my throat and spoke, "Actually, the word you use is 'available' and 'very'."

"Shall we, uh, get along without the psychic paper?" Rose asked, her face red in embarrassment.

"That would be better, wouldn't it?" Jack replied, standing up and we walked towards the back of the ship.

"Nice space ship." Rose commented.

"Gets me around." Jack replied.

"Very... Spock."

"Who?" Jack asked.

"Guessing you're not a local boy, then." I replied.

"Cell phone, liquid-crystal watch, and fabrics that won't be around for at least another two decades, guessing you two aren't local girls." Jack responded.

"Guessing right." Rose replied.

I touched the wall of the ship and hissed in pain and looked down at my hands which had burns on it.

"Burn your hands on the rope?" Jack asked.

"Yeah." I answered.

"We're parked in mid-air!" Rose exclaimed, looking out the window, "Can't anyone down there see us?"

"No." Jack answered before looking at me, "Can I have a look at your hands for a moment?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Please?"

I nodded and he walked over and took my hands in his, he used this small metal tube thing and looked at Rose and I, "You can stop acting now. I know exactly who you are. I can spot a Time Agent a mile away."

"Time agent?" Rose questioned.

"I've been expecting one of you guys to show up." Jack said. "Though not, I must say, by barrage balloon. Do you often travel that way?"

"Sometimes I get swept off my feet... by balloons." I replied as he put his scarf around my hands, "What're you doing?"

"Try to keep still." He said before reaching above me and flipping a switch, "Nanogenes. Subatomic robots."

Small, bright lights surrounded my hands as he spoke, "The air in here is full of them. They just repaired three layers of your skin."

Jack took off the scarf and did the same to Rose.

"Tell them thanks." I replied, looking at my hands.

Once the nanogenes were done, Jack walked to the back of the ship, "Shall we get down to business?"

"Business?" Rose questioned.

"Shall we have a drink on the balcony?" He asked.

Steps lowered in front of him, "Bring up the glasses."

Rose and I grabbed three glasses and we followed him to the top of his ship, which was invisible. And we were right next to Big Ben.

"All right. I know we're standing on something." Rose said.

Jack pressed a butting and the ship appeared below our feet.

"Okay, you have an invisible spaceship... tethered up to Big Ben for some reason." Rose said.

"First rule of active camouflage, park somewhere you'll remember." Jack replied.

"That's smart." I commented.

He popped the cork off the campagne bottle and poured some into our glasses. After drinking some of it, Rose stood up,

"It's getting a bit late. Zoey and I really should be getting back."

"We're discussing business." Jack said.

"This isn't business. This is champagne." I replied.

"I try never to discuss business with a clear head." Jack responded before looking at me, "Are you two authorized to negotiate with me?"

"What would we be negotiating?" I asked.

"I have something for the Time Agency, something they'd like to buy. Are you empowered to make payment?" Jack questioned.

"Well, we should talk to our companion." I replied.

"Companion?"

"Yeah, we should really be getting back to him." I said.

"Him?" Jack questioned.

"Do you have the time?" Rose asked.

He used the metal tube again and Big Ben lit up next to us.

"Okay, that was flash." Rose replied. "That was on the flash side."

"So when you say your companion," Jack put his hands on my waist, "Just how disappointed should I be?"

"Okay, we're standing in midair... on a spaceship during a German air raid. Do you really think now's a good time to be coming on to me?" I asked him, not being fooled by his flirting.

"Perhaps not, Cherry." He answered. "Do you like Glenn Miller?"

He pressed it the tube again and Moonlight Sernade started playing. I looked at Rose and she nodded and Jack put one hand on my waist and with the other, he grabbed my hand.

"It's 1941, height of the London blitz, height of the German bombing campaign. And something else has fallen on London. A fully equip Chula Warship... the last one in existence, armed to the teeth." Jack said as we danced. "And I know where it is. Because I parked it. If the agency can name the right price, I can get it for you. But in two hours, a German bomb is going to fall on it and destroy it forever. That's your deadline. That's the deal. Now, shall we discuss payment?"

"Do you know what I think?" Rose asked and I stepped back, "You were just talking there."

"Two hours, the bomb falls, there'll be nothing left but dust in a crater." Jack said.

"Promises, promises." I replied.

"Are you listening to any of this?" Jack asked.

"You used to be a Time Agent, now, you're some kind of freelancer." I said.

"That's a little harsh." Jack replied and pulled me closer, "I like to think of myself as a criminal."

I laughed, "I bet you do."

"So, this companion of yours, does he handle the business?" Jack asked.

"Yes, he does." I answered.

"Well, then, maybe we should go find him." Jack suggested.

"And how are you gonna do that?" I asked.

"Easy. I'll do a scan for alien tech." He answered and stepped back.

"Finally, a professional." Rose said.

I laughed, "Don't let the Doctor hear you say that."

* * *

Jack found out where the Doctor was, he was in a hospital. We ran through the hallways, trying to find him.

"Hello?" Jack asked and then the Doctor came through a set of doors.

Jack walked up to him and shook his hand, "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over."

"He knows." I told the Doctor, "I had to tell him about us being Time Agents."

"It's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Spock." Jack said before walking past the Doctor.

"Mr. Spock?" The Doctor questioned.

"Rose chose it." I replied.

"What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name." Rose responded, "Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?"

"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where've you two been?" He asked us. "We're in the middle of a London blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll."

"Who's strolling?" I questioned as I walked towards the door, "We went by barrage balloon."

"Only way to see an air raid." Rose commented.

"What?"

"What's a Chula Warship?" I asked.

"Chula?"


	8. The Doctor Dances

We walked in and saw Jack scanning the bodies of people with gas masks.

"This just isn't possible. How did this happen?" Jack questioned.

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" The Doctor asked.

"What?" Jack asked.

"He said it was a warship." I replied. "He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's gonna fall on it unless we make him an offer."

"What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this!" Jack exclaimed.

"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" The Doctor asked again.

"An ambulance!" Jack held out his wrist and a holographic image appeared, "Look... that's what you chased through the time vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time-travel vehicle, love the retro look by the way, nice panels, threw you the bait-"

"Bait?" Rose questioned.

"I wanted to sell it to you, then destroy it before you found out it was junk." Jack finished.

"You said it was a warship." Rose said.

"They have ambulances in wars." Jack replied. "It's a con. I was conning you. That's what I am. I'm a con man! Thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you?"

"Just a couple more freelancers." I answered.

"Oh, should've known. The way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, flag-girl and Cherry was bad enough, but U-boat captain?" The Doctor looked down at his clothes, "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."

"What is happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"Human DNA is being rewritten... by an idiot." He answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know. Some kind of virus, converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?" The Doctor answered.

Rose walked over to one of the bodies and looked at it before it bolted up into a sitting position.

"Mummy!" They all repeated.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I don't know." The Doctor replied.

They started walking towards us and we backed up to the door, "Don't let 'em touch you."

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose questioned.

"You're looking at it."

"Mummy."

"Mummy."

"Mummy." They all chanted.

They came closer and I gripped the Doctor's hand.

"Go to your room." The Doctor said, "Go to your room! I mean it. I'm very, very angry with you. I'm very, very cross. Go... to... your... room!"

The people slowly turned around and walked to their beds and laid down again, "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been terrible last words."

"Why are they all wearing gas masks?" Rose asked as she stared at one of the people.

"They're not." Jack answered, "Those masks are flesh and bone."

"How was your con supposed to work?" The Doctor asked.

"Simple enough, really, find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest time agent track it back to Earth. Convince him it's valuable, name a price. When he's put fifty percent up front, oops, a German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for. Never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck." Jack answered. "The perfect self-cleaning con."

"Yeah, perfect."

"The London blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation out of it, though, but you've got to set the alarm for volcano day." Jack laughed, "Getting a hint of disapproval."

"Take a look around the room. This is what you piece of harmless space junk did." Teh Doctor replied.

"It was a burnt out medical transporter. It was empty." Jack said.

"Zoey, Rose." The Doctor said, walking towards the door.

"We getting out of here?" Rose asked.

"We're going upstairs." He answered as we followed him.

"I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no one. I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing to do with it." Jack said.

"I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's volcano day." The Doctor replied as sirens went off.

"What's that?" I asked.

"The all-clear." Jack answered.

"I wish." The Doctor responded before we left.

I noticed Rose wasn't behind me, but the Doctor said she'd catch up. We started to walk up the stairs when we heard Jack and Rose.

"Mr. Spock?"

"Doctor!"

"Have you got a blaster?" The Doctor asked as they ran by.

"Sure." Jack answered before they ran up the stairs.

We stopped in front of a metal door, "The night your space junk landed, someone was hurt. This is where they were taken."

"What happened?" Rose asked.

"Let's find out. Get it open." He told Jack.

"What's wrong with your screwdriver?" I asked the Doctor as Jack took out a gun.

"Nothing." He answered me and Jack pulled the trigger, making a square hole where the lock was, "Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapons factories of Villengard?"

"You've been to the factories?" Jack asked.

"Once." He answered, taking the gun and looking at it.

"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. The main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot." Jack said.

"Like I said, once." The Doctor replied, handing him his gun back. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good."

The Doctor grabbed my hand and we walked into the room, Rose and Jack behind us. The Doctor turned on the light switch and I looked around the room. The window was smashed and stuff on the desk were tipped over.

"What do you think?" The Doctor asked Jack.

"Something got out of here."

"Yeah. And?"

"Something powerful... angry." Jack continued.

"Powerful and angry." The Doctor repeated before we walked into the next room.

There were drawings everywhere that looked like a child did them.

"A child?" Jack questioned. "I suppose this explains 'mummy'."

"How could a child do this?" Rose asked, motioning to the smashed window.

"Do you know where you are?" A mans voice asked.

"Are you my mummy?" The child asked.

"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you... see?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"What do you want? Do you know-"

"I want my mummy. Are you my mummy? I want my mummy! Are my mummy? Are you my mummy? Mummy! Mummy!"

"Doctor, I've heard this voice before." I said.

"Me, too." He replied.

"Always 'are you my mummy?' like he doesn't know." I continued as the child kept calling for his mummy, "Why doesn't he know?"

"Are you there mummy? Mummy! PLease, mummy. Mummy!"

"Doctor?" Rose questioned as he paced the child's room.

"Can you sense it?"

"Sense what?" Jack asked.

"It's coming out of the walls. Can you feel it?" The Doctor questioned.

"Mummy?"

"Funny little human brains, how do you get around in those things?"

"When he's stressed he likes to insult species." I told Jack.

"Zoey, I'm thinking."

"Cuts himself shaving, does a half an hour on life forms he's cleverer than." I said.

"There are these children, living rough 'round the bomb sites. They come out during air raids, looking for food." The Doctor said.

"Mummy, please."

"Suppose they were there when this thing, whatever it was, landed?" He asked.

"It was a med-ship. It was harmless." Jack answered.

"Yes, you keep saying 'harmless'. Suppose one of them was affected, altered?"

"Altered how?" Rose asked.

"I'm here."

"It's afraid. Terribly afraid and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do." The Doctor laughed nervously, "It's got the power of a God, and I just sent it to its room."

I was suddenly afraid when I heard the tape rattling, and yet we could still hear the child, "Doctor?"

"I'm here. Can't you see me?"

"What's that noise?!" Rose exclaimed.

"End of the tape. It ran out about thirty seconds ago." The Doctor answered.

"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?"

"I sent it to its room. This is its room." He said.

The Doctor turned around, and behind the desk was the child in the gas mask, "Are you my mummy? Mummy?"

"Okay. On my signal, make for the door." The Doctor ordered.

"Mummy?"

I saw Jack reach in his pocket and he pointed a banana at the boy, "Now!"

The Doctor pulled out Jack's gun and aimed at the wall before pulling the trigger, "Go now! Don't drop the banana!"

"Why not?" Jack asked as we went through the hole in the wall.

"Good source of potassium." He answered.

"Give me that." Jack took the gun from the Doctor and closed the square so the child couldn't get through. "Digital rewind. Nice switch."

"It's from the groves of Villengard. Thought it was appropriate." The Doctor replied, holding up his banana.

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard, and you did that?" Jack asked.

"Bananas are good." The Doctor said before the child punched the wall.

"Doctor."

"Come on!" He grabbed my hand and the four of us ran through the hallway, but we were cut off by more people in gas masks.

We turned around and ran away from them, but we were cut off again and we were back where we started.

"It's keeping us here till it can get at us." The Doctor said.

"It's controlling them?!" Jack asked.

"It is them. It's every living thing in this hospital." He answered.

"Okay, this can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon, and a triple-enfolded sonic disruptor." Jack said, pointing his blaster at the people coming at us. "Doc, what you got?"

He pulled out his screwdriver, "I've got a sonic, uh, nevermind."

"What?"

"It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that."

"Disruptor, cannon, what?!"

"It's sonic, totally sonic. I am sonic-ed up."

"A sonic what?!" Jack yelled.

"Screwdriver!"

They got closer and the child punched through the wall and I grabbed Jack's blaster, "Head's up!"

I shot the floor and we fell through and Jack closed it behind us.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked.

"Could've used a warning." The Doctor said.

I glared at him, "What do you think 'head's up' means?"

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack questioned.

"I do." The Doctor answered.

"Lights." Rose said and we both searched for the light switch.

"Who looks at a screwdriver an thinks, 'this could be a little more sonic'?"

"What, you never been bored?" He asked, "Never had a long night? Never had to put up a lot of cabinets?"

Rose turned on the lights and people shot up from their beds, "Mummy. Mummy. Mummy."

"Door." Jack said.

We ran over to the door and he tried to use his blaster to open it, "Damn it. It's the special features. They really drain the battery."

"The battery? That's so lame." Rose said as we left the room.

"I was gonna send for another one, but somebody's got to blow up the factory." Jack replied.

"Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew up my job." I said, "That's practically how he communicates."

"Okay, that door should hold for a bit." The Doctor said.

"The door? The wall didn't stop it!" Jack exclaimed.

"Well, it's got to find us first. Come on, we're not done yet. Assets, assets."

"Well, I got a banana and in a pinch, you could put up some shelves." Jack replied.

"Window."

"Barred, sheer drop outside, seven stories."

"And no other exits." Rose said.

"The assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" Jack asked, sitting in a chair.

"So, where'd you pick this one up, then?" The Doctor asked me.

"They were both hanging from a barrage balloon. I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a chance." Jack answered for me.

"Okay, one, we've got to get out of here. Two, we can't get out of here. Have I missed anything?" The Doctor said.

"Yeah. Jack just disappeared." Rose responded.

The Doctor and I turned around and saw that the chair Jack was sitting in was now empty.

"Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the great-looking ones who do that?" Rose asked and I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle my laugh.

"I'm making an effort not to be insulted." The Doctor replied.

"I think she means... men." I said.

"Okay, thanks. That really helped." He responded.

The radio then crackled and we heard Jack's voice, "Zoey? Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me? I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you." We ran over to the radio and the Doctor showed us that it wasn't plugged into the wall, "It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there."

"How're you speaking to us?" The Doctor asked.

"Omcom. I can call anything with a speaker grille." Jack answered.

"Now, there's a coincidence." The Doctor stated.

"What is?" Jack asked.

"The child can Omcom, too." He answered.

"It can?" Rose and I asked at the same time.

He nodded, "Anything with a speaker grille, even the TARDIS phone."

"What, you mean the child can phone us?" Rose asked.

"And I can hear you." The child said in a singsong voice, "Coming to find you. Coming to find you."

"Doctor, can you hear that?" Jack questioned.

"Loud and clear." The Doctor answered.

"I'll try and block out the signal, least I can do." Jack said.

"Coming to find you, mummy!" The child said.

"Remember this one, Cherry?"Jack asked and Moonlight Serenade started playing and I smiled.

The Doctor looked at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Our song." I said and he nodded.

I sat down against the cabinet, listening to the song while Rose spun around in a wheelchair and the Doctor was using his sonic screwdriver on the barred windows.

"What you doing?" Rose asked him.

"Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete, loosen the bars." He answered.

"You don't think he's coming back, do you?" Rose asked.

"Wouldn't bet my life." The Doctor replied.

"Why don't you trust him?" I questioned.

"Why do you?"

"Saved my life. And Rose's. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." I answered and when he didn't reply, I continued, "I trust him because he's like you."

"Except with dating and dancing." Rose added.

He looked back at us before continuing with the resonation pattern in the concrete stuff.

"What?" Rose asked.

"You just assume-"

'What?"

"You just assume I don't dance." He finished.

"What, are you telling me you do dance?" Rose questioned.

"900 years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume at some point, I danced." The Doctor replied,

"You?"

"Problem?"

"Doesn't the universe implode or something if you... dance?" She asked.

"Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast. I danced with Zoey once." The Doctor responded.

Rose looked back at me, "Really?"

"If you mean when we were on that observation deck, dancing to Tainted Love, that was only for a few seconds." I replied.

Rose smiled and stood from the wheelchair and walked over to the radio and turned it up and walked back over to the Doctor and held out her hand, "You got the moves. Show me your moves."

"Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete." The Doctor replied.

"Jack'll be back." I said, "He'll get us out. So go on. The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances."

He turned off his sonic screwdriver and put it in his jacket before grabbing Rose's hand and looking at it, "Barrage balloon?"

"What?" Rose asked.

"You two were hanging from a barrage balloon." He said and he walked over to me and grabbed my hand and pulled me up before looking at it, too.

"Yeah, a few minutes after you left us. Thousands of feet above London, middle of a German Air Raid, Union Jack all over my chest." Rose said.

"I've traveled with a lot of people, but you two are setting new records for Jeopardy- Friendly." The Doctor replied. "Hanging from a rope thousands of feet above London not a cut, not a bruise."

"Yeah, I know. Captain Jack fixed us up." I responded.

"Oh, we're calling him Captain Jack now, are we?" He asked.

"Well, his name's Jack and he's a Capitan." I replied.

"He's not really a captain, Zoey."

"Do you know what I think?" I asked. "I think you're experiencing Capitan envy."

"If ever he was a captain, he's been defrocked." The Doctor responded before grabbing my hands and we started swaying.

"Yeah? Shame I missed that." I replied.

"Actually I quit." Jack said from behind me and I turned around and saw that we were in Jack's ship, "Nobody takes my frock. Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet."

I looked at Rose and she was wiggling her eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Navcom offline to override the teleport security." Jack said.

"You can spend ten minutes overriding your own protocols? Maybe you should remember whose ship it is." The Doctor replied.

"Oh, I do. She was gorgeous. Like I told her, be back in five minutes." Jack responded.

"This is a Chula ship." The Doctor stated.

"Yeah, just like that medical transporter. Only this one is dangerous." Jack replied.

The Doctor snapped his fingers and the nanogenes surrounded his hand.

"Those are what fixed Zoey and I's hands. Jack called them, um..." Rose started.

"Nanobots? Nanogenes."

Nanogenes, yeah." Rose said.

"Subatomic robots. There's a million of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now. They activate when the bulkhead's sealed, check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." He told us before they disappeared, "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your space junk."

"Soon as I get the Navcom back online." Jack replied. "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you and Cherry were... doing."

"We were talking about dancing." The Doctor responded.

"It didn't look like talking." Rose said.

"Didn't feel like dancing." I added.

"So, you used to be a time agent, and now you're trying to con them?" Rose asked Jack.

"If it makes me sound any better, it's not for the money." Jack replied.

"For what?" I asked.

"Woke up one morning when I was still working for them, found they'd stolen two years of my memories. I'd like them back." Jack answered.

"They stole your memories?" Rose questioned.

"Two years of my life. No idea what I did. Your friend over there doesn't trust me. And for all I know, he's right not to." Jack responded and there were a few beeps, "Okay. We're good to go. Crash site?"

Once we got to the crash site we got out of the ship and walked along the train cars.

"There it is." Jack said. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."

We watched as a man in army uniform walked around, "We've got to get past."

"Are the words 'distract the guard' heading in my general direction?" Rose asked.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea." Jack replied.

"Don't worry, I can handle it." Rose responded.

"Ah, I've gotten to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me, you're not his type. I'll distract him. Don't wait up." Jack said before walking towards the man.

I looked over and saw Rose looking at the Doctor with worry, "Relax, he's a 51st century guy. He's just a bit more flexible when it comes to dancing."

"How flexible?" I asked.

"Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy." He began.

"Meaning?" Rose questioned.

"So many species so little time." The Doctor said.

"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life and... and..." I stuttered.

"Dance." The Doctor finished for me.

We stayed quiet and watched Jack talk to the man before he fell and a gas mask formed on his face.

"Stay back!" The Doctor yelled.

The Doctor grabbed my hand and we ran over, "The effect's becoming airborne, accelerating."

"What's keeping us safe?" Rose asked.

"Nothing." He answered.

The sirens started blaring, "Here they come again."

"All we need." Rose commented.

"Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land here?" I asked Jack.

"Never mind about that." The Doctor replied. "If the contaminant's airborne now, there's hours left."

"Till what?" Jack asked.

"Till nothing, forever, for the entire human race and can anyone else hear singing?" The Doctor asked.

We walked over to a building and opened it and saw a woman singing to another gas mask man. The Doctor told her to silently come over here, but she continued singing and motioned to the handcuffs that were around her wrist. When he got her free we left and went over to the ship that Jack had.

"You see? Just an ambulance." Jack said.

"That's an ambulance?" Nancy asked.

"It's hard to explain. It's from another world." Rose told her.

"They've been trying to get in." Jack stated.

"Of course they have. They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon." The Doctor replied. "What're you doing?"

"Well, the sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll know I had nothing to do with it." Jack answered.

The ship sparked and there was an alarm, "Didn't happen last time."

"It hadn't crashed last time." The Doctor replied. "They're emergency protocols."

"Doctor, what is that?" Rose asked.

Behind us, the doors where Nancy was kept in started moving, "Doctor!"

"Captain, secure those gates." The Doctor ordered.

"Why?" Jack questioned.

"Just do it!"

"Nancy, how did you get in here?" He asked.

"I cut the wire." She answered.

"Show Zoey and Rose." The Doctor said as he tossed me his screwdriver. "Setting 2428D."

"What?" I asked.

"Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"

With one last look at the Doctor, I followed Nancy and Rose. Nancy showed us where she got in and Rose held the two pieces of wire while I reattached them.

"Who are you two?" Nancy asked us.

"You'd never believe us if we told you." Rose answered.

"You just told me that was an ambulance from another world. There are people running around with gas mask heads, calling for their mummies, and the sky's full of Germans dropping bombs on me." Nancy said. "Tell me, do you think there's anything left I couldn't believe?"

"We're time travelers from the future." I answered and Rose gave me a look.

"Mad, you are."

"We have a time travel machine, seriously." I replied.

"It's not that. All right, you got a time travel machine. I believe you. Believe anything, me. But what future?" Nancy asked, looking at the sky.

"Nancy, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not the end of the world or anything." I told her.

"How can you say that? Look at it." Nancy said.

"Listen to me. Rose and I were born in this city. We're from here, in about 50 years' time." I replied.

"From here?" Nancy questioned.

"We're Londoners from your future." Rose said.

"But you're not-"

"What?" Rose asked.

"German."

"Nancy, the Germans don't come here." I said. "They don't win. Don't tell anyone I told you so, but do you know what? You win."

"We win?" She asked.

I smiled, "Come on."

"You see? Empty." Jack said as the ambulance opened.

"What do you expect in a Chula Medical Transporter? Bandages, cough drops?" The Doctor questioned, "Zoey. Rose."

"I don't know." We said at the same time.

"Yes, you do." He replied, holding up his hand.

"Nanogenes." I said.

"It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species." The Doctor said.

"Oh, god."

"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask." He continued.

"And they brought him back to life, they can do that?" I asked.

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter." The Doctor replied. "Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though, these nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like. All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do. They patch it up. Can't tell what's gas mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cause, you see, now, they think they know what people should look like, and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child, looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"

"I didn't know!" Jack responded.

"Zoey!" I heard Nancy yell and I looked behind her and saw the gas mask people coming towards us.

"It's brining the gas mask people here, isn't it?" I asked the Doctor.

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops, standard protocol." He answered.

"But the gas mask people aren't troops." Rose said.

"They are now." The Doctor replied, "This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up. They get you ready for the front line, equip you, program you."

"That's why the child's so strong." I said, "Why it could do the phoning thing."

"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical 4-year-old. Looking for his mummy. And now there's an army of them." The Doctor replied.

"Why don't they attack?" Jack asked.

"Good little soldiers, waiting for their commander." He answered.

"The child?"

"Jamie." Nancy said.

"What?" Jack questioned.

"Not 'the child'. Jamie." Nancy said.

"So, how long until the bomb falls?" Rose asked.

"Any second." Jack answered.

"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor questioned.

"He's just a little boy." Nancy said.

"I know." He replied.

"He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."

"There's isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy, and this little boy can." The Doctor said.

"So what're we gonna do?" I asked.

"I don't know." The Doctor answered.

"It's my fault." Nancy stated.

"No."

"It is. It's all my fault." Nancy cried.

"How can it be your-" The Doctor began.

"Mummy."

"Mummy."

"Mummy."

The people around us started repeating mummy and I saw the Doctor look at Nancy, who was crying.

"Nancy, what age are you?" He asked, "20, 21? Older than you look, yes?"

"Doctor, that bomb. We've got seconds." Jack said.

"You can teleport us out." Rose told him.

"Not you guys." Jack replied, "The Navcom's back online. Gonna take too long to override the protocols."

"So it's volcano day. Do what you've got to do." The Doctor told him.

"Jack." Rose said.

I looked behind me and saw that Jack disappeared.

"How old were you five years ago, 15, 16?" The Doctor asked Nancy.

"Oh, my god." I whispered, seeing where he was getting at.

"Old enough to give birth anyway." The Doctor said.

"He's not your brother, is he?" I asked Nancy.

"A teenage single mother in 1941." He continued, "So you hid. You lied. You even lied to him."

The gate broke open and there was the little boy, Jamie.

"Are you my mummy?"

"He's gonna keep asking, Nancy." The Doctor told her, "He's never gonna stop. Tell him. Nancy... the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me. And tell him."

"Are you my mummy?" Jamie asked.

Nancy walked towards the child and he asked again, "Yes." Nancy answered, "Yes, I am your mummy."

"Mummy?"

"I'm here." Nancy said.

"Are you my mummy?"

Nancy leaned down to face Jamie, "I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

"Yes."

"Are you my mummy?"

"He doesn't understand." The Doctor said, "There's not enough of him left."

"I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." Nancy said and she hugged him and nanogenes surrounded them, "I'm so, so sorry."

"What's happening?" Rose asked. "Doctor, it's changing her. We should-"

"Shh!" He cut her off, "Come on, please. Come on, you clever little nanogenes. Figure it out. The mother. She's the mother. That's got to be enough information. Figure it out."

"What's happening?" Rose repeated.

"See?" He grabbed my hand and pointed to the nanogenes, "Recognising the same DNA."

Once the nanogenes disappeared, we ran forward.

"Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." The Doctor said before bending down and taking the gas mask off of Jamie.

"ha ha!" The Doctor laughed and lifted him up, "Welcome back! 20 years till pop music. You're gonna love it!"

"What happened?" Nancy asked.

"The nanogenes recognized the superior information, the parent DNA. They didn't change you because you changed them. Ha ha! Mother knows best." The Doctor set Jamie down.

"Doctor, that bomb." Rose said.

"Taken care of it." He replied.

"How?" I asked.

"Psychology." The Doctor answered.

I heard the bomb closing in on the Earth and we watched as Jack's ship flew in and caught it with the tractor beam.

"Doctor!" Jack yelled.

"Good lad!"

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis, but it won't last long." Jack said.

"Change of plan, don't need the bomb." The Doctor replied. "Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can."

"Cherry? Rose?"

"Yeah?" We yelled at the same time.

"Goodbye." Jack said before disappearing.

Why'd he say goodbye?

The Doctor walked forwards, looking at his hands as nanogenes surrounded him.

"What're you doing?" Rose asked.

"Software patch." He answered. "Gonna e-mail the upgrade. You want moves, Zoey? I'll give you moves."

The Doctor shot the nanogenes at the gas mask people and the all fell to the ground, "Everybody lives, Zoey. Just this once... everybody lives!"

I smiled at his excitement, but what Jack said was still bothering me.

Thier gas masks disappeared and they were people again. The Doctor ran over to a man and talked to him for a minute before running back over here and getting on top of the ambulance, "Right, you lot! Lots to do! Beat the Germans! Save the world! Don't forget the Welfare state! Setting this to self-destruct, soon a everybody's clear. History said there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"Usually the first in line." Rose replied.

Once the Doctor was done we went back into the TARDIS, "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Dr. Constantine for help. Ditto, all in all, all things considered, fantastic!"

"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas!" Rose exclaimed.

"Who says I'm not? Red bicycle when you were 12." He replied.

"What?"

"And everybody lives. Everybody lives! I need more days like this." The Doctor exclaimed and he stopped right in front of me, "What's wrong?"

"What about Jack?" I asked and his smile fell. "Why'd he say goodbye?"

* * *

The Doctor flew the TARDIS to Jack's ship and I was leaning against the doorway, waiting for Jack to realize we were here while Rose and the Doctor were dancing. When he finally noticed, I smiled, "Well, hurry up, then."

He ran in and looked around.

"Nice, isn't it." I said.

"All right and turn." Rose instructed the Doctor and they got all mixed up. "Okay, try and spin me again, but this time, don't get my arm up my back. No extra points for a half-Nelson."

"I'm sure I used to know this stuff." The Doctor said before looking at Jack, "Close the door, will you? Your ship's about to blow up, there's gonna be a draft. Welcome to the TARDIS."

"Much bigger on the inside." Jack commented.

"You'd better be."

"I think what the Doctor's trying to say is, you may cut in." I said and I held my hand out and he grabbed it.

"Zoey!" The Doctor exclaimed and I looked at him, "I've just remembered."

"What?" I asked.

He smiled and started snapping his fingers and coming towards me, "I can dance."

"Actually Doctor, I thought Jack would like this dance." I replied.

"I'm sure he would, Zoey. I'm absolutely certain. But who with?" The Doctor asked.

I shook my head and smiled before grabbing the Doctor's hand and we danced. I smiled at Rose who went to Jack and started dancing with him. The Doctor was right,

Just this once, everybody lives.


	9. Boom Town

We were inside the TARDIS on Earth, in Cardiff to be exact. Rose, Jack, and I were talking while the Doctor worked on the TARDIS. There was a knock on the door and Jack opened it,

"Who the hell are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? Who the hell are you?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying." Jack replied.

"Get out of my way." Mickey said and pushed himself into the TARDIS.

"Don't tell me, this must be Mickey." Jack said as Mickey walked towards us.

"Here come trouble. How are you doing, Rickey boy?" The Doctor asked from a platform above us.

"It's Mickey!"

"Don't listen to him. He's winding you up." Rose replied.

"You look fantastic. You too, Zoey." Mickey said.

"Thanks Mickey." I smiled as I hugged him and Rose hugged him, too.

"Aw, sweet. Look at these two" Jack cooed, "How come I never get any of that?"

"Buy me a drink first." The Doctor replied.

"You're such hard work." Jack responded.

"But worth it." The Doctor said with a smug smile.

"Did you manage to find it?" Rose asked Mickey and I groaned.

"There you go." Mickey said, handing Rose her passport.

"I can go anywhere now." Rose smiled.

"You don't need a passport, Rosie." I said.

"It's all very well going to Platform One and Justica and the Glass Pyramid of San Kloon, but what if we end up in Brazil? I might need it. You see, I'm prepared for anything." Rose replied.

"Sounds like you're staying, then." Mickey said and the smile on Rose's face disappeared. "So what are you doing in Cardiff, and who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash? I mean, I don't mind you two hanging out with Big-Ears up there-"

"Oi!"

"Look in the mirror." Mickey replied, "But this guy, I don't know, he's kind of-"

"Handsome?" Jack asked.

"More like cheesy." Mickey answered.

"Early 21st century slang. Is cheesy bad or good?" Jack questioned.

"It's bad." Mickey replied,

"But bad means good, isn't that right?"

"Are you saying I'm not handsome?" The Doctor asked, walking down the steps.

"We just stopped off. We need to refuel." Rose said, changing the subject.

"Cardiff has this rift running through the middle of the city. It's invisible, but it's like an earthquake fault between different dimensions." I continued.

"The rift was healed back in 1869..."

"Thanks to a girl named Gwyneth." I commented. "These creatures called the Gelth were using the rift as a gateway, but she saved the world and closed it."

"But closing a rift always leaves a scar, and that scar generates energy, harmless to the human race..." Jack continued.

"But perfect for the TARDIS. I just park it here for a couple of days, right on top of the scar, and..." The Doctor said.

"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation..." Jack replied.

"Like filling it up with petrol, and off we go!" Rose exclaimed.

"Into time!"

"And space!" We all exclaimed and high-fived each other.

"My god, have you seen yourselves? You all thin you're so clever, don't you?" Mickey asked.

"Yeah."

"Yep."

"Yes."

"Yep." Jack answered and gave a light slap to Mickey's cheek.

"Should take another 24 hours, which means we have time to kill." The Doctor said as we left the TARDIS.

"That old lady's staring." Mickey commented.

"Probably wondering what five people could do inside a small wooden box." Jack replied, wrapping an arm around my waist and winking at me.

"What are you Captain of, the Innuendo Squad?" Mickey asked.

Jack made a 'W' with his hands and we started walking, "Wait, the TARDIS, you can't just leave it. Doesn't it get noticed?"

"Yeah, what's with the police box? Why does it look like that?" Jack questioned.

"There's a cloaking device." I answered.

"It's called a chameleon circuit. The TARDIS is meant to disguise itself wherever it lands. Like, if this was Ancient Rome, it's be a statue on a plinth or something. But I landed in the 1960s, it disguised itself as a police box, and the circuit got stuck." The Doctor said.

"So it copied a real thing? There were actually police boxes?" Mickey asked.

The Doctor nodded, "Yep. On street corners. Phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested somebody, they could shove them inside till help came, like a little prison cell."

"Why don't you just fix the circuit?"

"I like it, don't you?"

"I love it." I smiled while stroking the TARDIS and she made a happy humming noise in my head.

"But that's what I meant. There's no police boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed?" Mickey replied.

"Rickey, let me tell you something about the human race. You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town. What do they do?" The Doctor asked, putting his hands on Mickey's shoulders, "Walk past it. Now stop your nagging. Let's go and explore."

"What's the plan?" Rose asked as we started walking.

"I don't know." The Doctor answered. "Cardiff, early 21st century. And the wind is coming from the... east. Trust me, safest place in the universe."

"Way to jinx it." I muttered as we continued walking.

* * *

"It turns out the white things are tusks and I mean tusks!" Jack exclaimed as he told a story about one of his adventures, And it's woken and it's not happy."

"How could you not know it was there?" The Doctor asked.

"And we're standing there, 15 of us, naked and I'm going 'no, no, no, it's got nothing to do with me.' And then it roars and we are running. Oh, my god, we are running. And Brakovitch falls, so I turn to him and say-"

"I knew we should have turned left." Mickey said.

"That's my line!" Jack exclaimed as we all laughed.

"I don't believe you." Rose said. "I don't belive a word you say ever. That is so brilliant. Did you ever get your clothes back?"

I saw the Doctor's smile fall as he looked at something and got up and left. I watched as he grabbed the newspaper from a man and looked at the cover.

He looked up at me, "And I was having such a nice day."

He held up the paper and showed us a picture. A picture of one of the Slitheen. We then left the restaurant and went to city hall.

"According to intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxicoricofallapatorius, masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit. Okay, plan of attack. We assume a basic 57/56 strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face-to-face, that'll be designate exit one. I'll cover exit two, Rose, you, exit three, Zoey, exit four, and Mickey Smith, exit five. Have you got that?" Jack said.

"Excuse me. Who's in charge?" The Doctor asked.

"Sorry. Awaiting orders, sir." Jack replied.

"Right. Here's the plan. Like he said. Nice plan. Except Zoey is with me. She doesn't have a communication device. Anything else?"

"Mickey, you're now on exit four. Present arms." Jack said and the others pulled out their phones,

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Ready."

"Speed dial?" Jack asked.

"Yep."

"Ready."

"Check."

"See ya in Hell." Jack smirked and winked before leaving.

The Doctor grabbed my hand and we went to the Slitheen's office. We went up to the secretary's desk,

"Hello, we've come to see the Lord Mayor." The Doctor said.

"Have you got an appointment?" He asked.

"Nope, just some old friends passing by." I answered.

"Bit of a surprise. Can't wait to see her face." The Doctor added.

"Well, she's just having a cup of tea." He said.

"Just go in there and tell her the Doctor would like to see her." The Doctor replied.

"Doctor who?"

"Just 'The Doctor'. Tell her exactly that, 'The Doctor'." The Doctor said.

"Hang on a tick." The secretary said, getting up from his desk and went inside the room.

"What exactly are we gonna say to her?" I asked.

"We're just gonna wing it." He smiled down at me.

We then head a tea cup shatter and he came back out, "The Lord Mayor says thank you for-for popping by. She-she's love to have a chat, but um... she's up to her eyes in paperwork. Perhaps if you two could make an appointment for next week?"

"She's climbing out of the window, isn't she?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes, she is." The man answered.

The Doctor pushed him aside and we went inside the room and went out onto the terrace. We looked to out right and saw her running.

"Slitheen heading north." The Doctor said into his mobile phone.

The secretary came out and grabbed the Doctor, "Leave the mayor alone!"

"Zoey go after her!" The Doctor yelled and I did what he said.

I followed Margaret down the ladder and chased after her, the Doctor not far behind me.

"Who was on exit four?!" Jack asked.

"That was Mickey!" Rose answered.

"Here I am." Mickey said, showing up with toilet paper around his foot.

"Mickey the idiot." The Doctor said.

"Oh, be fair. She's not exactly gonna out run us, is she?" I replied.

But then she disappeared.

"She's got a teleport! That's cheating!" Jack exclaimed. "Now we're never gonna catch her!"

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, "The Doctor's very good at teleports."

He pressed the button and he screwdriver buzzed and Margaret appeared. She turned around and ran before teleporting again. This repeated again and again until she was in front of us and panting.

"I could do this all day." The Doctor commented.

She held up her hands in surrender, "This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"

"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet." The Doctor answered.

"Apart from that."

* * *

We walked back into the building and into a room, "So, you're a Slitheen. You're on Earth. You're trapped. Your family gets killed, but you teleport out, just in the nick of time. You have no means of escape. What do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"

We all stood around a table, looking at the model of the power station.

"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the errors of my ways." Margaret answered.

"And it just so happens to be right on top of the rift." The Doctor said.

"What rift would that be?" She asked.

"A rift in space and time." Jack answered. "If this power station went into melt down, the entire planet would go spllbew!"

"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity." The Doctor said.

"Didn't anyone notice?" I questioned, "Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?"

"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales Coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice." Margaret answered, "Oh, I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."

"But why would she do that?" Mickey asked. "A great big explosion, she's only end up killing herself."

"'She's' got a name, you know." Margaret said.

"She's not even a 'she'. She's a thing." Mickey replied.

"Oh, but she's clever." The Doctor said before grabbing the gray thing that was under the model of the power station.

He flipped it over and it had wires and buttons underneath, "Fantastic."

"Is that a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" Jack asked.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." The Doctor replied.

"Oh. Ohh, genius!" Jack exclaimed as he took the extraplator from the Doctor, "You didn't build this."

"I have my hobbies. A little tinkering." Margaret replied.

"No, no, no, I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you." Jack said.

"I bet she stole it." Mickey piped up.

"It fell into my hands." Margaret replied.

"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked.

"It's transport." Jack answered as he put it on the ground, "You see, the reactor blows, the rift opens, phenomenal cosmic disaster. But this thing shrouds you in a force field. You have this energy bubble, zhoom! So you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the Solar System."

"It's a surfboard." Mickey said.

"A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah." Jack replied.

"And it would've worked. I'd have surfed away from this dead-end dump and back to civilization." Margaret responded.

"You'd blow up whole planet just to get a lift?" Mickey asked.

"Like stepping on an anthill." She hissed.

"How'd you think of the name?" The Doctor asked, looking at the banner.

"What, 'Blaidd Drwg'? It's Welsh." Margaret replied.

"I know, but how did you think of it?"

"Chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. Just sounded good." She answered. "Does it matter?"

He turned around and faced us, "Blaidd Drwg."

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"Bad Wolf." The Doctor answered and once again, my arm stung.

I pressed my hand into my scar, praying for the pain to go away.

"But I've heard that before. Bad Wolf. I've heard that lots and lots of times." Rose said.

"Everywhere we go, two words, following us. Bad Wolf." The Doctor stated.

"How can they be following us?" I asked.

The Doctor scoffed and smiled, "Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio, then hearing it all day. Never mind. Things to do."

I knew he was just pretending. Something is very wrong, those two words. I sort of feel like they're after me. But how is that possible?

"Margaret, we're gonna take you home." The Doctor said.

"Hold on, isn't that the easy option, like letting her go?" Jack asked.

"I don't believe it, we're actually going to Raxa-" She paused and the Doctor rolled his eyes, "Wait a minute! Raxacor-"

"Raxacoricofallapatorious." The Doctor and I said at the same time and he smiled at me.

"Raxacorico..." Rose said.

"Fallapatourious." The Doctor finished.

"Raxacoricofallapatourious." Rose said before screaming and hugging the Doctor, "That's it!"

"They have the death penalty." Margaret said, "The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty, with no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I am to be executed. What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home, and you take me to my death."

"Not my problem." The Doctor replied.

* * *

It was night time outside and we were all inside the TARDIS. She was still refueling, but the Doctor thought that we could use the extrapolator as fuel so we could leave right away instead of waiting another day.

"This ship is impossible!" Margaret gasped, "It's superb! How'd you get the outside to wrap around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah." The Doctor replied.

"I almost feel better about being defeated. We never stood the chance." Margaret said. "This is the technology of the Gods."

"Don't worship me. I'd make a very bad God." The Doctor responded. "Wouldn't get a day off, for starters. Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range." Jack looked at Margaret, "Where'd you get it?"

"I don't know. Some airlock sale?"

"Must have been a great big heist." Jack looked back at the Doctor, "It's stacked with power."

"But we can use it for fuel?" He asked.

"It's not compatible, but it should knock off 12 hours." Jack answered. "We'll be ready to go by morning."

"Then we're stuck here overnight." The Doctor said.

"I'm in no hurry." Margaret replied.

"We've got a prisoner. The police box really is a police box." Rose commented.

"You're not just police, thought. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners... each and every one of you." She said.

"Well, you deserve it." Mickey replied.

"You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me how, exactly? Long night ahead." Margaret sat in the Captain's chair, "Let's see who can look me in the eye."

And one by one, she all looked at us, and we all looked away. Even Mickey. A while later Mickey and Rose left the TARDIS and I decided to go to my room. After I took a shower and dried my hair, I went back to the console room and saw only Jack and no Margaret or Doctor.

"They went to have Margaret's last meal." Jack said as he worked on the extrapolator.

"Okay." I replied, sitting next to him, "Need any help?"

I helped Jack the next hour or so and all of the sudden the ground started to shake.

"Jack!" I screamed.

"Hang on to something, Cherry!" Jack yelled.

I gripped the railing as things sparked around us.

"What the hell are you doing?" I looked over and saw Margaret and the Doctor running in.

"It just went crazy!" Jack answered.

"It's the rift. Time and space ripping apart!" The Doctor said. "The whole city's gonna disappear."

The Doctor and Jack were around the console, trying to calm the extrapolator while I was near the door, gripping the railing.

"It's the extapolator. I've disconnected it, but it's still feeding off the engine. It's using the TARDIS. I can't stop it!" Jack yelled.

"Never mind Cardiff, it's gonna rip open the planet." The Doctor said.

The door opened and I looked over at Rose, "What is it? What's happening?" She asked.

"Oh, just little me!" Margaret answered, taking off a piece of her human skin, her arm.

I saw her reach for Rose and I pushed my friend out of the way, but Margaret grabbed my neck.

"Zoey!" Rose yelled.

"One wrong move and she snaps like a promise." Margaret snarled.

"I might've known." The Doctor stated.

"I had you bleating all night, poor baby." She replied, moving us closer to the extrapolator, "Now, shut it! You, flyboy, put the extrapolator at my feet."

She tightened her hold on my neck and Jack looked to the Doctor and he nodded. Jack grabbed it and put in in front of Margaret.

"Thank you. Just as I planned."

"I thought you needed to blow up the nuclear power station." Rose said.

"Failing that, if I were to be... arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have the considerable technology of their own. Therefore, they would be captivated by the extrapolator. Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to plan B," She tightened her hold even more and I couldn't breathe, "to lock on to the nearest alien power source and open the rift. And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule... thanks to you."

"The rift's gonna convulse. You'll destroy the whole planet." Jack said.

"And you with it!" Margaret exclaimed before moving me aside, still holding onto my neck, and stepped onto the board, "While I ride this board over the crest of t inferno all the way to freedom. Stand back, boys. Surf's up."

Part of the controls of the TARDIS opened up and there was a bright light, "Of course, opening the rift means you'll pull this ship apart."

"So sue me." Margaret replied.

"It's not just any old power source, it's teh TARDIS, my TARDIS, the best ship in the universe." The Doctor said.

"It'll make wonderful scrap."

"What's that light?" Rose asked.

"The Heart of the TARDIS." The Doctor answered. "This ship's alive. You've opened its soul."

"It's... so bright." Margaret stated.

"Look at it, Margaret." The Doctor said gently.

"So beautiful."

"Look inside, Blon Fel-Fotch. Look at the light." He told her.

She slowly released me and Jack grabbed me and pulled me away from her. Rose hugged me and we watched Margaret. She smiled and looked at the Doctor,

"Thank you."

The bright light filled the room, "Don't look. Stay there. Close your eyes."

I looked at where Margaret used to be, all there was left was her skin.

"Now, Jack, come on, shut it all down. Shut it down. Rose, Zoey, that panel over there, turn all the switches to the right." The Doctor ordered.

We all did what he said and everything calmed down.

"Nicely done. Thank you, all." The Doctor said.

"What happened to Margaret?" I asked.

"Must've got burned up." Jack said. "Carried out her own death sentence."

"No, I don't think she's dead." The Doctor replied.

"Then where did she go?" Rose asked.

"She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, even I don't know how strong that is. And the ship's telepathic, like I told you, Zoey, Rose, gets inside your head, translates alien languages." The Doctor answered. "Maybe the raw energy can translate all sort of thoughts."

He searched through her human skin suit and pulled out a giant egg with tentacles coming off of it, "Here she is."

"She's an egg?" Rose questioned.

"Regressed to her childhood." The Doctor said.

"She's an egg?" Jack repeated what Rose said.

"She can start again." The Doctor replied, "Liver her life from scratch. If we take her home, give her to a different family, tell 'em to bring her up properly, she might be all right."

"Or she might be worst." Jack responded.

"That's her choice."

"She's an egg." I said.

"She's an egg." The Doctor replied.

"Oh, my god! Mickey!" Rose exclaimed before running out the door.

* * *

Rose came back a while later with no Mickey, looking glum.

"We're all powered up. We can leave." The Doctor announced to her. "Opening the rift filled us with energy. We can go, if that's all right."

"Yeah, fine." Rose replied.

"How's Mickey?" He asked.

"He's okay. He's gone." Rose answered.

"Do you want to go and find him? We'll wait." The Doctor offered.

"No need. He deserves better." Rose replied and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"Off we go, then. Always movin' on." He said.

"Next stop, Raxacoricofallapatorius." Jack stated, "Now, you don't get to say that often."

'We'll just sop by and pop her in the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life again. A second chance." The Doctor said.

"That'd be nice." Rose responded.


End file.
